Genre: Drama

Duration: 66 mins

Format: 35mm

Director: Alexander Mindadze

Cast: Anton Shagin, Svetlana Smirnova, Stanislav Ryadinskiy, Aleksei Demidov

Awards: Nominated for Golden Berlin Bear (2011 Berlin International Film Festival)

On a sunny April Saturday in 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. The events of the film take place in the first 24 hours after the reactor explodes. Valera, a loyal young party official, learns the whole truth about the explosion by chance and becomes an unwitting witness to the catastrophe. He sees the panic of those in charge and realises that every second counts. But it is the weekend. Everyone is relaxed. His girlfriend wants to dress up, go shopping. There are weddings to attend, drinks with friends and concerts to play. This is the true story of Valera's attempt to escape from the reactor zone. He is faced with an enormous moral choice: save his friends, tell the other residents of the town or follow orders and not stir up panic. Marking the 25th anniversary since the catastrophe, this is an extraordinary film by the great screenwriter, Aleksandr Mindadze, that thrusts us into the merriment and the madness of that time.