When the Chernobyl accident happened in 1986, my life and the life of my 3 year old son Dimitri were changed forever. Disillusioned with the propaganda, I left the Belorussian State TV where I worked as a film director.
I became an independent consultant to numerous International film and TV crews about the realities of life after Chernobyl.
Very soon I became dissatisfied with the superficial foreign approach to the Chernobyl drama, which was mainly based on sensationalism. And I came up with the idea of making my own documentary "To Whom It May Concern..."
Despite the fear of being persecuted and exposed to extremely high doses of radiation, I started travelling around Belarus interviewing dozens of mothers who had lost their children to cancer and leukaemia.
In the midst of despair of my little son being ill and watching my own health deteriorating, I was guided to meet a foreigner who brought hope and joy into our lives. I was translating for him while he worked in the Minsk Haematological hospital with dozens of children suffering from leukaemia and thyroid cancer, as well as their grief-stricken mothers.
Two months after our first meeting we got married in New York! Together we founded FOCUS International – a charity devoted to promote natural health for children around the globe. We went on a long journey of educating people about the events after Chernobyl and showed my film in Rotary clubs, Universities, libraries and schools. We originated several scientific research projects and found many solutions in the field of natural and energy medicine which benefit people suffering from radiation-related illnesses.
Short description of the film
"To Whom It May Concern" is a record of broken people's lives in Belarus five years after the Chernobyl power plant explosion. It shows the plight of children and their parents who have been eating low level radiation food. It is an attempt to warn the rest of humanity to the danger of being exposed not only to radiation but to the undisclosed truth.
Galina Sanderson