Telling the secrets of the nuclear story by MAHIMA DAYAL, The Sunday Guardian
"Knowing the risks of nuclear power is important for decision making. And films are the best way to bring information to the people", says festival director Norbert G. Suchanek. "There are many important documentaries and movies about nuclear issues that never reach the mass media. Our festival provides these films and filmmakers with an international audience and media attention" he adds.
For Sri Prakash, Filmmaker & Organiser of the Uranium Film Festival in India, the festival is a "personal journey", which started when he met Norbert in 2006 at Windorah in Navajo. Two of his films on uranium – Buddha Weeps in Jadugoda and Jadugoda – The Black Magic, have been screened at the Uranium Festival. Jadugoda in Jharkhand suffers due to the uranium mining activities that bear heavily on the locals. "Given the recent dissent in areas like Kudankulam, against nuclear plants, I feel that this is the perfect time for bringing this festival here. It is not about the good and the bad, anti or pro. It is not about devising a much divided opinion. It is only about sharing experiences" he says.
This is the only festival in the world which is dedicated to the nuclear fuel chain and grapples with issues from exploration and mining of radioactive minerals like uranium to nuclear energy production, atomic waste, nuclear medicine, atomic bombs, nuclear war, and nuclear or radioactive accidents. Films like Leonid's story or After the day after by Director Rainer Ludwigs uses stop motion and combine photographs and drawings to capture the surreal emotion. Grave issues like radiation, addressed in the festival, use a genre like thriller-comedy in the Swedish film, Coffee-break by Marko Kattilakoski.
