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BERLIN
Zvizdal [Chernobyl – So far so close]

  • Film
  • Installation
  • Performance

In 1986, ninety towns and villages around Pripyat are evacuated after the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl. The inhabitants leave their houses never to return. ›Zvizdal‹ is a cinematic portrait of two people living in a ghost town. The duo BERLIN, consisting of Bart Baele and Yves Degryse, stages their story as a part film, part installation,documentary performance. Having only each other – and in a state of total isolation – Pétro and Nadia lead their lives seemingly undisturbed. But when, once a year on All Souls’ Day, a caravan of cars passes by on the main road, they feel joyous. Their social longing has never completely subsided.
Between 2011 and 2016, BERLIN follows Pétro and Nadia in an effort to portray the evolution of their story over the years. How does one bear absolute seclusion for so long, a life cut off not only from human contact but also from electricity, water and every form of modern comfort? ›Zvizdal‹ draws a portrait of solitude, survival, poverty, hope and love between two elderly people in their eighties surrounded by colourless, odourless but omnipresent radiation.

Ukrainian with German and English subtitles

19.30 h (Foyer) – ›STATE OF THE PRESENT‹: Impulse lecture on the current situation on site – 6 years after the production of ›Zvizdal‹ took place.

With: Nadia & Pétro Opanassovitch Lubenoc
Concept: Bart Baele, Yves Degryse, Cathy Blisson
Interviews: Yves Degryse, Cathy Blisson
Photography & editing: Bart Baele, Geert De Vleesschauwer
Scenography: Manu Siebens, Ina Peeters, BERLIN
Sound recordings: Toon Meuris, Bas de Caluwé, Manu Siebens, Karel Verstreken
Interpreter: Olga Mitronina
Soundtrack & mixing: Peter Van Laerhoven
Construction set: Manu Siebens, Klaartje Vermeulen, Dirk Stevens, Kasper Siebens
Scale model: Ina Peeters, with the help of Puck Vonk, Rosa Fens, Thomas Dreezen
Mechanics: Joris Festjens, Dirk Lauwers
Graphics: Jelle Verryckt
Communication & production: Laura Fierens
Business management: Kurt Lannoye
Administrative support: Jane Seynaeve

Co-produced by: Het Zuidelijk Toneel [Tilburg, NL], PACT Zollverein [Essen, DE], Dublin Theatre Festival [IE], CENTQUATRE [Paris, FR], Brighton Festival [UK], BIT Teatergarasjen – House On Fire  [Bergen, NO], Kunstenfestivaldesarts [Brussels, BE], Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt am Main [DE], Theaterfestival Boulevard [Den Bosch, NL], Onassis Cultural Centre [Athens, GR] – In collaboration with deSingel [Antwerp, BE] – With support of the Flemish Government – BERLIN is associated artist to le CENTQUATRE [Paris, FR]

Thanks to: Wim Bervoets, Brice Maire, Lux Lumen, Els De Bodt, Pascal Rueff, Morgan Touzé, Christophe Ruetsch, Isabelle Grynberg, Nadine Malfait, Natalie Schrauwen, Katleen Treier, Piet Menu, Anthe & Ama Oda Baele, Remi & Ilias Degryse