The Russian Woodpecker: Chernobyl & War In Ukraine

A gripping, award-winning documentary about an irradiated Ukrainian artist’s search for the truth about Chernobyl and his prescient and powerful warnings about Putin's plans for a coming Russian invasion. 

Rights Available from our Distributors - Kino Lorber & Espresso Media

With our protagonist’s warnings about a Russian invasion of Ukraine now sadly all too true, this is the perfect time to re-introduce your audiences to this Grand Prize Sundance Winner. Not only does this fascinating documentary provide interviews with many of the key individuals involved in the Chernobyl investigation, but it also provides a psychological portrait of a country at war, torn between hopes for a European future and the ghosts of the Soviet Union and rife with conspiracy theories nourished by government lies. It captures the terrifying years of 2013/2014 and explores the background and causes of a reborn Soviet Union and the imminent invasion of Ukraine. Contact chad@graciafilms.com for inquiries.

Reviews

A complex documentary about Chernobyl that is surprisingly, richly enjoyable.
– VARIETY

Rightly singled out by many as one of the more arresting and formally inventive documentaries at Sundance this year...
– THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

It’s a rollicking ride of masterly narrative construction unlike any other documentary in Sundance.
– THE GUARDIAN

The Russian Woodpecker is very much like Fedor himself — eccentric as hell, smart as a whip, and, at the end of the day, a heartbreaker.
— THE VILLAGE VOICE

An endlessly fascinating and sharply bizarre documentary ... mysterious, intense and altogether prophetic...
– INDIEWIRE

The Russian Woodpecker often plays like a Kubrick take on some awful situation -- like Clockwork Orange or Dr. Strangelove. The assemblage of real time search and archival footage is a wonder to behold.
– RED CARPET CRASH

Vibrating with a reckless creative urgency, The Russian Woodpecker is a call for political integrity lost long ago.
– IONCINEMA.COM

This is one wild magic carpet ride of a film.... – JAMES MCNALLY

A must-see...Alexandrovich and Ryzhykov... make an intriguing Holmes and Watson in this beautifully photographed and inventive documentary. – SALT LAKE MAGAZINE 

This is such a curious and amazing film... I have no idea now if this is a documentary or a bizarrely truth conceived but fantastical narrative film. – IndieWire

Fedor Alexandrovich has the hypnotic power to become a generation’s counter- culture icon ... should leave most audiences completely stunned. Passionate, audacious and revolutionary... Watch at all costs. – FICKS’ PICKS

An unveiling of the past with intrigue worthy of All the President's Men and a warning cry for the future of an unstable region at the mercy of a tyrant, The Russian Woodpecker is an arresting, thought-provoking and seismically important creation." - CINE-VUE

What humanizes the topic considerably is Fedor himself, the charismatic protagonist of the film, whose childlike excitement to uncover the truth and his strong willed determination in the face of injustice is as inspiring as it is endearing. - Cinecola

This critically acclaimed film takes the viewer on a thrilling investigation into the ghosts of the Soviet Union and the mind of an irradiated Ukrainian artist on a quest to discover the "criminal" behind the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Unforgettably eccentric artist Fedor Alexandrovich begins his quest by revealing to the world an enormous secret Soviet radar weapon that stands in the shadow of Chernobyl, and which Kremlinologists in the 1980s thought was a giant mind-control device. This colossus – and the aging men who still defend its secrets – provide a key that Fedor uses to unlock a sinister theory connecting his own radiation sickness to Russia’s plans to bring the Soviet Union back from the dead. 

In Gracia's debut documentary/conspiracy thriller, Fedor returns to the ghost towns in the radioactive Exclusion Zone to try to find answers and to decide whether to risk his life by revealing them, amid growing clouds of Ukraine's 2014 revolution. Along the way, this haunted artist risks his life by climbing a rickety Soviet radar taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza, sailing naked over a radioactive sea on a raft made of mirrors, and hunting with a torch and hazmat suit the demons hiding in the dead zone surrounding Chernobyl. Meanwhile, he interviews a dozen of the key Ukrainian, Russian and international scientists who investigated the disaster.

While his theory that the explosion was an inside job may seem mad, the audience too starts to question reality when secret police appear and one of the crew members is shot by a sniper, as revolution, paranoia and terror engulf the production. This Sundance Grand Jury winner and darling of critics worldwide pushes the boundaries of the documentary form while telling a crucial story about the deadly dance between Ukraine and Russia, and hinting at what Putin had in mind next. Drawing on a century of Russia-Ukraine relations, Fedor gives a fiery and terrifyingly prescient speech on the Maidan that predicts an imminent Russian invasion. His warnings were largely ignored. 

Screened at festivals throughout the world, where it won dozens of awards and accolades upon its initial release, this film is essential viewing today for those hoping to better understand Chernobyl, Ukraine and the ghosts behind Russia’s brutal 2022 invasion.

Team

CHAD GRACIA (Director & Producer & Editor) is a new documentary filmmaker who was formerly involved in theater and finance.

FEDOR ALEXANDROVICH (Protagonist and Production Designer) is a painter, professor and theater professional in Kyiv, Ukraine.

ARTEM RYZHYKOV (Cinematographer) is a soldier in the Ukrainian army on the frontlines.

Oscar-Nominated MIKE LERNER (Producer) has been making films since 1988 including AFGHAN STAR, HELL AND BACK AGAIN, PUSSY RIOT: A PUNK PRAYER, SMASH & GRAB – THE STORY OF THE PINK PANTHERS, THE SQUARE, THE DO GOODERS, A WHOLE LOTT MORE. He has won a number of industry awards including; Academy Award Nomination for Best Documentary Feature 2012, six Sundance Awards (Grand Jury, Special Jury, Best Director, Audience, Cinematography), EMMY Nomination for Best Documentary, 2 Grierson Awards for Best Documentary, The Alfred Dupont Award, and others.

RAM DEVINENI (Producer) is a filmmaker, publisher and founder of Rattapallax films, press and magazine based in New York City, Sao Paulo and New Delhi. He produced, edited and directed the feature documentary THE HUMAN TOWER, which was shot in India, Chile, and Spain. Recently, he received the 2014 Tribeca Film Institute New Media Fund from Ford Foundation for PRIYA’S SHAKTI — an augmented reality comic book.