Press Release: Uranium Film Festival goes to India

TRAVELLING URANIUM FILM FESTIVAL in Hyderabad (23rd-25th January, 2013)

The International Uranium Film Festival is travelling to India for the first time in Asia. This film festival is dedicated to films on Nuclear fuel cycle. It was inaugurated in New Delhi on January 4th 　in Siri Fort auditorium no. 3 and will and has travelled through Shillong, Ranchi and Manipal. The film festival has now reached Hyderabad. After Hyderabad, it will travel to 　 Pune, Banglore, Chennai, Thrissur and　 end at Mumbai in February, 2013. The festival will offer wide range of animation videos, short films, documentaries and even feature films from 　all over the world.　 International Uranium Film Festival was 　first held in Rio (Brazil) and then travelled to Portugal, Germany and 　would move to　 New York 　after the Indian edition.

　“Today Contemporary issues such as Global warming, climate change are becoming part of the education curriculum. There is a growing awareness among people to conserve environment with inclination towards using Green technologies. Green energy vs. Nuclear energy is today the most engaging contemporary debate in India. In this crucial period, there is a need to move the debate further and we feel that art and culture is the best medium to reach a large audience. Today when India　 and other 　developing countries need energy to ensure that their 　citizens 　need　 a good standard of living and　 to 　address the energy needs, 　establishments 　　are ambitious to go to any　 limit to achieve their goal .

“

Independent information is the base for independent decisions. The festival　stimulates the discussion about the nuclear question and stimulates the production of new　documentaries, movies and animated films about any nuclear or radioactive issue. In addition Uranium Film Festival　creates a neutral space to throw light on all nuclear issues .Societies and peoples have the right of choice if they want to　follow the nuclear road or not” says Mr. Norbert G. Suchanek, 　International festival director , 　whose mind’s harvest was organization of Travelling Uranium Film Festival across the globe in order to make people more aware and cognizant.

The film festival is being organized by Sarojini Naidu School of arts and communications, University of Hyderabad and Goethe Zentrum Hyderabad is going to screened in the three locations: Golden Threshold- Nampally, DST Auditorium- University of Hyderabad and Lamakaan, Banjara Hills.

The inauguration is being chaired by the Vice- Chancellor of University of Hyderabad and will include prominent speakers such

Amala Akkineni, Environmentalist and Film actor

Dr. Vithal Rajan, Eminent Scientist and Activist

Dr Babu Rao, Eminent Scientist.

DAY 1 – Wednesday, 23rd January 2013

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Golden Threshold (GT), Nampally

6.00 to 7.00 pm: Inauguration

(Welcome by Dr. Usha Raman - Head, Department of Communication, SN School)

Chaired by Dr. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy - Vice-Chancellor-University of Hyderabad

Inaugural address by Mr. Norbert G. Suchanek – International Festival Director

Speakers:

Mr. Shriprakash, Indian Festival Director

Ms. Amala Akkineni, Environmental activist and Indian film actress

Dr. Vithal Rajan, Eminent Writer and Activist

Dr. Babu Rao, Scientist and Activist working on issues related to uranium mining

7.00 to 8.15 pm: Into Eternity; Denmark, 2010, 75 minutes, Director: Michael Madsen.

This film questions the possibility of storing the radioactive waste for more than 100,000 years

DAY 2 – Thursday, 24th January 2013

2:00 PM – 8:00 PM

DST Auditorium, University of Hyderabad, Gachibowli

2:00 to 3:50 pm: Yellow Cake - The Dirt Behind Uranium; Germany, 2010, 108 minutes, Director - Joachim Tschirner

Until the reunification, East Germany supplied uranium in secrecy to Soviet Union. This film showcases the biggest clean-up operation in the history of uranium mining that takes the viewers to the big mines in Germany, Namibia, Australia and Canada

3:55 to 4:45 pm: The Red Button; Poland/USA, 2011, 52 minutes, Director – Ewa Pieta & Miroslaw Grubek

The film that tells the dramatic story of Stanislav Petrov, the Russian officer who, in 1983, saved the world from atomic war.

4:45 to 5:00 pm: Break

5:00 to 5:55 pm: Uranium: A Poisoned Legacy; France, 2009, 52 minutes, Director - Dominique Hennequin

This film is a shocking investigation into uranium mining in Africa.

6:00 to 6:35 pm: When the Dust Settles; Australia, 2010, 35 minutes, Director - Kimberley Joseph

This story tells of the real life struggle with radioactive fallout, the proliferation of the idea of pity and the long term consequences of “helping” that keep generations swirling in confusion.

6:40 to 7:50 pm: The Return of the Navajo Boy; USA, 2000-2008, 57 minutes, Director - Jeff Spitz

This is an acclaimed documentary that reunited a Navajo family and triggered a federal investigation into uranium contamination.

DAY 3 – Friday, 25th January 2013

1:30 PM – 4:30 PM

DST Auditorium, University of Hyderabad, Gachibowli

1:30 to 2:20 pm: Australian Atomic Confessions; Australia, 49 minutes, Director - Kathy Aigner

Eyewitnesses tell the true story of what happened during the 12 British atomic bomb tests in Australia. The film is a chilling expose of nuclear testing and the demaging legacy that continues these day.

2:30 to 3:00 pm: The Third Nuclear Bomb, The Veteran’s Accusation; Italy, 2008, 26 minutes, Director - Maurizio Torrealta

This is an investigative report of an American veteran who accuses the US Administration of having used a small nuclear penetration bomb with an energy of 5 kilotons between the Iraqi town of Basra and the border with Iran.

3:00 to 3:15 pm: Break

3:15 to 4:30 pm: Beating the bomb; UK, 2010, 70 minutes, Director - Wolfgang Matt & Meera Patel

This is a film about the biggest weapons of mass destruction ever created. It is about the people who use them, more importantly it is about the people who fight them.

DAY 3 – Friday, 25th January 2013

6:30 PM – 9:30 PM

LaMakaan, Banjara Hills

6:00 to 7:50 pm: Yellow Cake - The Dirt Behind Uranium; Germany, 2010, 108 minutes, Director - Joachim Tschirner

8:00 to 9:00 pm: Chernobyl The Invisivle Thief; Germany, 2006, 59min, Director - Christoph Boekel

A vivid, moving film told from the personal perspective of the director, it is a requiem for the often forgotten victims of the Chernobyl disaster and a caveat against putting blind trust in technological advancement.

9:00 to 9:30 pm: The Third Nuclear Bomb, The Veteran’s Accusation; Italy, 2008, 26 minutes, Director - Maurizio Torrealta

Local Organizers:

Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communications, University of Hyderabad, and Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad

For further information please contact Ms. Tejaswini Madabushi at +91-9246355660

Pune 27-31 Jan; Bangalore 2-3Feb; Chennai 5-7 Feb; Trissur 8-10 Feb; Mumbai 11-12 Feb’2013

For information on the other cities please contact Mr. Shriprakash at +91-8809854907/ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. " data-mce-href="mailto: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Rio de Janeiro - Berlin - New Delhi - New York

Rio de Janeiro, 16/11/2012 - The International Uranium Film Festival is dedicated to independent documentaries and movies about nuclear power and the whole nuclear fuel chain from uranium mining, nuclear bombs to nuclear waste, from Hiroshima to Fukushima. In January 2013 the Uranium Film Festival now is traveling to India.

"Knowing about the risks of nuclear power is important for decision making. And films are today the best way to bring information to the people", says festival director Norbert G. Suchanek in Rio de Janeiro. "There are many important documentaries and movies about nuclear issues that never reached the mass media. Our Uranium Film Festival gives these films and filmmakers an international audience and media attention."

For example, when his documentary "A Nuclear Incident in Lock Haven. Not For Public Release" received the "Yellow Oscar Award" of the second Uranium Film Festival this year in Rio de Janeiro, film director Bill Keisling from USA said: “The nuclear incident in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and its many victims, have received no publicity whatsoever from the corporate media in Pennsylvania and the United States. The Yellow Oscar Award from the Uranium Film Festival will not only shine light on my film, it will help to illuminate the plight of the many nuclear victims in the United States, most of whom are usually completely ignored by the government and media here.”

The first International Uranium Film Festival started in May 2011 in Rio de Janeiro. From there it traveled already to other Brazilian cities and in 2012 it reached Europe. Traveling Uranium Film Festivals happened in Lisbon in Portugal and last October in Berlin in Germany. Now the festival will conquer the next continent, Asia. Uranium Film Festivals are planned for January 2013 in New Delhi and other cities of India.

"In the aftermath of Fukushima, India has been the only state, where the future of the nuclear energy has not been questioned, while countries like Germany decided to phase out nuclear power. India on the contrast has been aggressively repressing any discourse and protest on nuclear energy, pronouncing it to be the only plausible `clean´ energy option for energy hungry India", says Indian filmmaker Shri Prakash who is organizing the Uranium Film Festival in India. "Unfortunately the citizens of the country do not have adequate access to independent information and knowledge on these issues to make informed decisions. In this context it is extremely important to bring the Uranium Film Festival to India."

The long term idea of the Uranium Film Festival inventors is to establish traveling Uranium Film Festivals in all countries and capitals, especially in countries with nuclear power plants, uranium mining or uranium deposits. "In fact there is already a world wide demand for our festival", says the festival director. "We have received invitations from many countries and cities: New Mexico, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Rome, Taiwan, Japan, Tokyo, Finland, Russia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Tanzania."

The still small Uranium Film Festival team - that is also now planning the third edition of the film festival in the cinema of the Modern Art Museum of Rio de Janeiro (MAM) scheduled for May 2013 - would like to follow that demand, but it needs more funding, supporters, partners and sponsors.

Norbert G. Suchanek: "We would like to invite all environmentally conscious people, institutions and companies to help us - for a world without nuclear risks."

Shri Prakash: "This Uranium Film Festival is unique for various reasons. Firstly it is the only film festival dedicated for the whole nuclear fuel chain. It's also a unique life time opportunity to witness the society that was born around this industry and has been affected by radiation. The films of the Uranium Film Festival are telling enlightening stories about history, politics and health impacts of uranium mining legacy and other legacies related to the nuclear industry. In this regard, we are looking for financial support in organizing the traveling film festival in Delhi and other places."

Thanks for your attention!

Norbert G. Suchanek (Director of the Uranium Film Festival)

Shri Prakash (Filmmaker & Organizer of the Uranium Film Festival in India)

PRESS RELEASE: Next Stop India

Rio de Janeiro, 10/11/2012 - The Travelling Uranium Film Festival: On the road with the best "nuclear" films on screen from Rio de Janeiro to New Delhi. The Uranium Film Festival has India poster uranium film festival 2 its roots in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but it is also travelling to other cities and countries. The Uranium Film Festival has already been 2011 in São Paulo, Recife, João Pessoa, Salvador, Fortaleza, in 2012 in Portugal (Lisbon, Porto, Nisa, Peniche) and in Germany (Berlin). Next stop is now India, scheduled for January 2013.

The Uranium Film Festival already received invitations from all over the world: From New Mexico, New York to Tokyo and Taiwan, from Russia to South Africa and TanzaniaThe Festival Team would like to follow the demand, but the Festival needs funding, supporters and partners. For that any support and funding is welcomed. Contact us: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ICBUW Germany about the Uranium Film Festival in Berlin 2012

Berlin, 02/11/2012 - Originally initiated in Rio de Janeiro in 2011 the Uranium Film Festival traveled to Berlin, Germany to build on its success in Brazil. From the 4^th to the 12^th of October the two cinemas Eiszeit and Moviemento situated in Berlin-Kreuzberg were showcasing the comprehensive program of the film festival. An extensive number of documentaries, animation-, short-films and motion pictures were covering the whole nuclear cycle, from uranium mining to civilian and military use.

Many of the producers and directors from all over the world were present to engage in discussions with the audience. In both cinema premises a short exhibition on the DU issue was dispelled, together with other relevant material. On the 7^th of October a special emphasis was put on the use of depleted uranium in weapon systems. Representatives from ICBUW Germany and other organizations as well as filmmakers and journalists were raising awareness and discussing the latest developments on the topic. The diverse audience let to a wide-ranging debate which focused, among other things, on prospects of making civil society engagement to become effective in banning DU weapons.

It became apparent that many filmmakers and journalist have found it difficult to obtain additional jobs after having covered the problem of depleted uranium weapons. Others criticized the lack of interest and support from the general media in reporting on the matter. Overall the festival was a great success and the festival team hopes to return to Berlin next year with a new program, and activities to be coordinated with German anti-DU and anti-nuclear activists. Meanwhile, the Uranium Film Festival is poised to continue traveling to other countries before returning to Rio de Janeiro in May 2013. / ICBUW Germany, Coop Anti-Kriegs Cafe

Second Uranium Film Festival’s Yellow Oscars go to USA, Sweden, Germany and Ukraine

The 2nd International Uranium Film Festival of Rio de Janeiro 2012 awarded its Yellow Oscars. Three films from USA, Sweden and Germany were honoured with the Festival’s Yellow Oscar Awards. Bill Keislings "Not for Public Release: a Nuclear Incident in Lock Haven", USA, received the Best Feature Award, and Swedish Filmmaker Marko Kattilakoski received the Short film Award for his movie Coffee Break (Fikapaus). "Leonids Story" by German film director Rainer Ludwigs and Ukrainian producer Tetyana Chernyavska got the Yellow Oscar in the animated film category.

A special recognition was made for Peter Greenaway’s extraordinary shortfilm "Atomic Bombs on the Planet Earth". That outstanding experimental documentary, that shows the insanity of over 2200 atomic bombs dropped on the planet Earth between 1945 and 1989 was honoured with the special recognition “Hors Concurs”. “Peter Greenaway, a multi-artist with more that 70 films produced is in a category in his own”, said Uranium Film Festival Judge João Luiz Leocádio, Nuclear Engineer and Professor for Cinema at Niteroi’s Univercity UFF (Universidade Federal Fluminense).

During three Weeks the Festival screened 54 documentaries, movies and animated films from all continents in the Cinemateca of Rio de Janeiro’s famous Modern Art Museum MAM. After Rio de Janeiro the Uranium Film Festival is now travelling. The next stop is planned in Berlin at the beginning of October!

About the Yellow Oscar Winners

Marko Kattilakoski’s movie Coffee Break (Fikapaus) from Sweden received the Yellow Oscar in the short film category. “Coffee break is a dark, ironic Swedish comedy-thriller about Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster in history”, said festival director Norbert G. Suchanek. “The nuclear issues need films like Fikapaus. And I hope that the Yellow Oscar stimulates not only Marko to continue his genius work, but also other `nuclear´ filmmakers to follow his example.”

In his award statement Marko Kattilakoski said: “Coffee Break was a story I had to tell. The team I gathered believed in the idea and we made the film with minimal budget and a lot of heart. I was very proud and happy that "Coffee Break" was accepted to the festival. I am even prouder and happier now receiving the Yellow Oscar 2012.”

Bill Keislings "Not For Public Release: A nuclear incident in Lock Haven”, produced in 2010 won the festival’s Best Feature Award. The documentary examines the problem of privatized Pentagon nuclear waste, and how the government's secretive handling of this sensitive issue places unsuspecting citizens in unacceptable risk.

„Thank you for the good news that my documentary `Not For Public Release´ has won the Yellow Oscar Award”, said Bill Keisling. “The nuclear incident in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and its many victims, have received no publicity whatsoever from the corporate media in Pennsylvania and the United States. The Yellow Oscar Award from the Uranium Film Festival will not only shine light on my film, it will help to illuminate the plight of the many nuclear victims in the United States, most of whom are usually completely ignored by the government and media here.”

Last but not least the festival honoured “Leonids Story” by German Film director Rainer Ludwigs and Ukrainian Producer Tetyana Chernyavska. Leonids Story is an outstanding, heartbreaking animated documentary about the nuclear disaster of Chernobyl 1986. Judge Leo Ribeiro, Professor for animated film at Rio de Janeiro’s Univercity PUC (Pontificia Universidade Catolica) said: “Leonids Story is an Animated-Documentary Short, a genre that is booming right now. Rainer Ludwigs mixes digital and traditional techniques in a perfect balance. The use of images and pictures mixed with drawings creates a dialogue between reality and imagination that the film leads to a shocking end.”

Award Statement from Sweden
http://www.uraniofestival.org/index.php/en/component/content/article/75-en/videos/298-marko-kattilakoski

Award Statement from USA
http://www.uraniofestival.org/index.php/en/component/content/article/73-en/frontpage-en/296-bill-keisling-about-the-festival

Award Statement from Germany
http://www.uraniofestival.org/index.php/en/component/content/article/75-en/videos/299-rainer-ludwigs

____________________________________________________________

Saturday, July 14th ended the 2nd International Uranium Film Festival in the Cinemateca Rio de Janeiro’s Modern Art Museum MAM. Three films from USA, Sweden and Germany were honoured with the Festival’s Yellow Oscar Awards. Bill Keislings "Not for Public Release: a Nuclear Incident in Lock Haven", USA, received the Best Feature Award and Swedish Filmmaker Marko Kattilakoski the Short film Award for his movie Coffee Break (Fikapaus). "Leonids Story" by German film director Rainer Ludwigs and Ukrainian producer Tetyana Chernyavska got the Yellow Oscar in the animated film category. Peter Greenaway’s extraordinary "Atomic Bombs on the Planet Earth" received the special recognition "Hors Concours". He's in a category in his own.

During three Weeks the Festival screened 54 documentaries, movies and animated films from all continents. Parallel to the Festival a photo exhibition by US-Photographer Robert del Tredici and the Atomic Photographers Guild was shown in the foyer of the MAM Cinema.

The 2nd International Uranium Film Festival of Rio de Janeiro honoured three films from Germany, Sweden and USA with the Yellow Oscar Award last Saturday. In Respect for the indigenous peoples of Brazil, the Award Ceremony of the Uranium film Festival was opened by three indigenous Representatives from three different parts of the country. Together with Chief Carlos Tukano from the Alto Rio Negro and Afonso Apurinã from Boca do Acre, indigenous singer Zahy Guajajara from the State of Maranhão interpreted a powerful holy song of here people.

The Ceremony continued with "Atomic Bombs on the Planet Earth" by Peter Greenaway. That outstanding experimental documentary, that shows the insanity of over 2200 atomic bombs dropped on the planet Earth between 1945 and 1989 mainly by the five atomic powers, was honoured with the special recognition “Hors Concurs”. “Peter Greenaway, a multi-artist with more that 70 films produced is in a category in his own”, said Uranium Film Festival Judge João Luiz Leocádio, Nuclear Engineer and Professor for Cinema at Niteroi’s Univercity UFF (Universidade Federal Fluminense).

Marko Kattilakoski’s movie Coffee Break (Fikapaus) from Sweden received the Yellow Oscar in the short film category “Coffee break is a movie with a minimal budget but a lot of heart. It is a dark, ironic Swedish comedy-thriller about Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster in history”, said festival director Norbert G. Suchanek. “The nuclear issues need films like Fikapaus. And I hope that the Yellow Oscar stimulates not only Marko to continue his genius work, but also other `nuclear´ filmmakers to follow his example.”

In his award statement Marko Kattilakoski said: “Coffee Break was a story I had to tell. I was very proud and happy that "Coffee Break" was accepted to the festival. I am even prouder and happier now receiving the Yellow Oscar 2012.”

Last but not least the festival honoured “Leonids Story” by German Film director Rainer Ludwigs and Ukrainian Producer Tetyana Chernyavska. Leonids Story is an outstanding, heartbreaking animated documentary about the nuclear disaster of Chernobyl 1986. Judge Leo Ribeiro, Professor for animated film at Rio de Janeiro’s Univercity PUC (Pontificia Universidade Catolica) said: “Leonids Story is an Animated-Documentary Short, a genre that is booming right now. Rainer Ludwigs mixes digital and traditional techniques in a perfect balance. The use of images and pictures mixed with drawings creates a dialogue between reality and imagination that the film leads to a shocking end.”

In his impressive Award speech Rainer Ludwigs said in the Cinemateca of Rio de Janeiro’s Modern Art Museum: “We are happy to be part of this festival, as filmmakers and as viewers. Here I saw films that taught me, that this chain begins with the unhealthy mining of uranium, gets worse during the whole process until the reprocessing of spent fuel, silently polluting complete coast areas, nature paradises, bringing cancer and other diseases, destroying peoples health and professions. The festival has opened our eyes. It has shown us, nuclear problems are not only national problems but have a worldwide structure. A festival like this is an important institution and may be the only weapon against this worldwide crime, which brings profit to few and ruins the life of millions. This festival has opened our horizons, so we hope that it will be established in cities all over the world.”

Rainer Ludwigs: "We would like to thank the Uranium Film Festival Team for their enthusiasm, for their initiative, for the invitation and being so heartily welcomed in this great city Rio de Janeiro, in this country which

represents so well most of the natural wonders of our world.”

All the Yellow Oscar winners and the nominees of the 2012 Uranium Film Festival were selected by the 5 members Jury of the Festival: João Luiz Leocádio, Nuclear Engineer and Professor of Film and Video at Niterois Univercity UFF (Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF); Leo Ribeiro, Animation filmmaker and Master in Design at Rio de Janeiros Univercity PUC (Pontifícia Universidade Católica); Gilberto Santeiro, Brazilian Filmmaker, Director and Curator of the Cinemateca of the Modern Art Museum of Rio de Janeiro; Dawid Bartelt, Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Brazil; Norbert G. Suchanek, Human rights and environmental Journalist, Writer and Uranium Film Festival Director.

The Yellow Oscar 2012 is a model of the Tram of Rio de Janeiro’s famous artist quarter Santa Teresa. “The model of the called Bonde, Rio de Janeiro’s last Tram, is a symbol of a sustainable public transport that serves the local community of Santa Teresa where the International Uranium Film Festival was born last year“, said Festival Executive Director Marcia Gomes de Oliveira.

"The 2nd International Uranium Film Festival in Rio de Janeiro is over, but it continues with travelling festivals", declared the festival directors Marcia Gomes de Oliveira and Norbert G. Suchanek at the end of the ceremony. "A selection of the best films of the Festivals 2012 and 2011 will be presented during the next travelling Uranium Film Festival in Berlin, planned for October. “The Festival thanks the host, Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Modern Art and the director of the Cinemateca Gilberto Santeiro as well as the Heinrich Boell Foundation Brazil and its director Dawid Danilo Bartelt for its valuable support and the local supporters of Santa Teresa, Bar do Mineiro and Armazem São Thiago for there hospitality.”

After the Ceremony, the Party went on in the so-called Gardens of the Cinemateca with traditional Caipirinha and Rio de Janeiro’s famous Cachaça Magnífica!

YELLOW OSCAR AWARD STATEMENT by Marko Kattilakoski

Dear Norbert G. Suchanek and Uranium Film Festival, This is Great News! "Coffee Break" was a story I had to tell. The team I gathered believed in the idea and we made the film with minimal budget and a lot of heart. I was very proud and happy that "Coffee Break" was accepted to the festival. Receiving the Yellow Oscar 2012, I am even prouder and happier. Best regards

Marko Kattilakoski

YELLOW OSCAR AWARD STATEMENT by RAINER LUDWIGS

Every one of us shares the experience that there are only few times in our lives that open our horizons in ways we never expected. When Tanya and I started our project we were not aware it would take us to places we’ve never seen before, introduce us to people from all over the world, and show us how humans get lost after unthinkable nuclear accidents. The destiny of our protagonist Leonid was so impressive, his sadness so touching, that we just had to tell his story as an example of so many forgotten stories of men, women, liquidators, children and victims of Chernobyl.

We never thought we’d be presenting it to viewers all over the world.

We are happy to be part of this festival, as filmmakers and as viewers. Here I saw films that taught me, that this chain begins with the unhealthy mining of uranium, gets worse during the whole process until the reprocessing of spent fuel, silently polluting complete coast areas, nature paradises, bringing cancer and other diseases, destroying peoples health and professions. We have also seen how always and everywhere the same things keep happening: Governments and officials lie to people, which have been affected by uranium mining, bomb tests, nuclear accidents, and preparation of the unholy fuel for weapons and energy by the so called friendly atom.

The festival has opened our eyes. It has shown us, nuclear problems are not only national problems but have a worldwide structure. The lack of responsibility by decision makers and politicians for the people who elected them. And the missing knowledge about the rotten structure of the nuclear industry, a worldwide network which contaminates areas all over the world and covers up their actions.

A festival like this is an important institution and may be the only weapon against this worldwide crime, which brings profit to few and ruins the life of millions. This festival has opened our horizons, so we hope that it will be established in cities all over the world.

We would like to thank Marcia Gomes de Oliveira and Norbert Suchanek for their enthusiasm, for their initiative, for the invitation and being so heartily welcomed in this great city Rio de Janeiro, in this country which represents so well most of the natural wonders of our world. Their engagement shows that kind of responsibility and respect for people and nature we’d like to see in our politicians. To bring all these filmmakers worldwide together is the kind of political action we need to stop this profit-driven nuclear war against people. It’s maybe the beginning of a worldwide network of information, interested in nothing but the truth.

We wish, that this second festival continues to establish a long and worldwide tradition and independent information campaign through cinema.

Rainer Ludwigs, Rio de Janeiro, 14.07.2012

YELLOW OSCAR AWARD STATEMENT by BILL KEISLING

Dear Uranium Film Festival Team, thank you for the good news that my documentary "Not For Public Release" receives the Yellow Oscar Award. The nuclear incident in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and its many victims, have received no publicity whatsoever from the corporate media in Pennsylvania and the United States. The Yellow Oscar Award from the Uranium Film Festival will not only shine light on my film, it will help to illuminate the plight of the many nuclear victims in the United States, most of whom are usually completely ignored by the government and media here. Thanks again, Bill Keisling

LEONIDS STORY - DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Just a few weeks before the 25 anniversary of the disaster of Chernobyl another name on the map of nuclear disasters was known. For several further generations these defeats will stay as black spots in the history of mankind. In 2010, I saw the children of Chernobyl in hospitals, I spoke with the liquidators, who were still traumatized after 25 years and I felt that I would have to narrate the history of this dark episode again. Not from the view of decision makers but from the perspective of the poor men who had no chance to change their destinies in that uncontrollable course of events. The consequences will last fort the rest of their lives and that of their disabled and unhealthy children. When I began that project in the early fall 2010, I had no idea that reality would turn that issue more relevant again than anybody would have estimated. How many Chernobyls and how many Fukushimas we will still experience?

Rainer Ludwigs

"Not For Public Release: A nuclear incident in Lock Haven” - Director's statement

What happens when students at a university in the United States learn they live in apartments built on the site of an abandoned Pentagon nuclear waste site? That's what I set out to discover in my film "Not For Public Release": A nuclear incident in Lock Haven. The truth is often the first casualty, I'd learn. In the mid-twentieth century, the U.S. government actually gave some of its defence contractor’s permission to dump radioactive waste on their private properties. The Pentagon seldom, if ever, disclosed the whereabouts of these dangerous nuclear dumps. The problem becomes one for the ages: many of these radioactive isotopes remain dangerous and "hot" for thousands of years, even as the radiation is invisible to unsuspecting victims. This carelessness caught up with college students in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. One day the students woke up to find environmental officials dressed in protective "moonsuits" searching their apartment building for tell-tale signs of radioactive waste. It would turn out that the student housing had been built on a property where a long-dead Pentagon contractor once dumped his highly radioactive DOD waste. My documentary film, Not For Public Release: A nuclear incident in Lock Haven, examines the problem of privatized Pentagon nuclear waste, and how the government's secretive handling of this sensitive issue places unsuspecting citizens in unacceptable risk.

COFFEE BREAK - DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

In 1986, Gävle, Sweden, I was riding my bike in the rain. A week later I learned the rain came from a cloud that had travelled straight from Ukraine and the Chernobyl disaster. Due to radiation we still, 25 years later, can’t eat mushroom or berries from the forests around Gävle. In 2006 it was pure luck that prevented a nuclear meltdown in Forsmark, a nuclear power plant only 70 km from my home. In 2010 I took a beating by a street gang while I was walking home from a pub.

In my mind I connected these very different occasions and I started to write a script that circled around fear. And I realized that what I fear, is what I can’t see. Radioactivity and lack of empathy is similar in that way. You can’t see that a mushroom is radioactive by just looking at it. And you can’t see if a person is empathic or not. He, or she, may tell jokes and be friendly, but what hides behind the mask?

In 2011 the script was written with, for me, a rather surprising comic touch, and I started planning the movie. I gathered a talented team of friends and independent filmmakers, where I would like to mention Daniel Morin who did a great job on editing and sound design, Ronny Rasmusson who did the wonderful music, and the two leading actors Dennis Åhs and Henning Larsson Müller. The result is Coffee Break, a comedy/thriller.

Marko Kattilakoski, Director and screenwriter of “Coffee Break”

The Yellow Oscar Nominees 2012 were:

Short Film Competition

Atomic Bombs on The Planet Earth by Peter Greenaway, Production: Change Performing Arts of Milan, Netherlands/United Kingdom, 2011, 12 min,

Jadugoda the black magic by Shriprakash, India, 2009, 9 min

Fikapaus (Coffee Break) by Marko Kattilakoski, Sweden, 2011, 14 min

Feature Film Competition

The Red Button (Czerwony Guzik) by Ewa Pieta & Miroslaw Grubek, Production: Miroslaw Grubek, Slawomir Grunberg, Poland/USA, 2011, 52 min

Not for Public Release: a Nuclear Incident in Lock Haven, by Bill Keisling, USA, 2010

Chernobyl: The invisible thief, by Christoph Boekel, Production: ARTE &WDR, Germany, 2006, 59 min

Animated Film Competion

Leonids Story by Rainer Ludwigs, Production: Tetyana Chernyavska, Germany / Ukraine, 2011, 19 min

Sacred Ground by Karen Aqua, USA, 1997, 9 min

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"Behind the Atom Curtain"

The International Uranium Film Festival presents a photographic exhibition by

Robert Del Tredici and the Atomic Photographers Guild

Until July 14, 2012 at Cinemateca of Modern Art Museum (MAM) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rio de Janeiro – Founded by photographer Robert Del Tredici, the Atomic Photographers Guild is an international collective of photographers dedicated to making visible all aspects of the nuclear age. For fifteen years, Del Tredici documented nuclear weapons factories and reactors throughout the USA, the former USSR, Canada, and Europe. In the process he crossed paths with other photographers determined, like himself, to illuminate the hidden corners of the nuclear realm. In 1987 he invited them to pool their energy and imagery to create acomprehensive collective picture of this elusive subject.

The exhibition opens with a broad selection of Del Tredici's pioneering work that was published in the award winning book "At Work in the Fields of the Bomb" and then continues with the multifaceted visions of the Atomic Photographers Guild whose 26 members worldwide have documented the people, places, and things engaged in uranium mining, nuclear weapons production and testing, and commercial nuclear power with a spotlight on history's three gravest reactor accidents at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the Chernobyl meltdown, and most recently the ongoing Fukushimatriple meltdown in Japan in 2011.

In the Guild portion of the exhibit, Behind the Atom Curtain features the images of history's first two atomic photographers, Berlyn Brixner of Los Alamos and Yoshito Matsushige of Hiroshima, It explores uranium processing with Jessie Boylan of Perth, Australia, Dan Budnik of New Mexico, and Blake Fitzpatrick of Ontario. It looks into nuclear power with Nancy Floyd of California and Barbara Norfleet of Boston. The issues surrounding nuclear testing is examined through the eyes of Yuri Kuidin of Kazakhstan and Americans Carole Gallagher, Harris Fogel, Peter Goin, and James Lerager. Paul Shambroon and John Hooton of the U.S. survey modern nuclear warhead deployments. Günther Zint of Hamburg documents German's mass protests against nuclear power, which lead in part to the creation of the Green Party. Guild documentarians Kenji Higuchi of Tokyo, Jan Smith of Mexico City, Igor Kostin of Moscow, Vaclav Vasku of the Czech Republic, and David McMillan of Winnipeg consider the Fukushima, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island incidents. The culture and societal impact of the nuclear age is the focus of Americans Patrick Nagatani, James Crnkovich, and elin o'Hara slavick, and Canadian David Geary.

This exhibition originated at The University of the Arts (http://www.uarts.edu) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the Mednick Gallery of Photography in Fall 2011, curated by Robert Del Tredici and Harris Fogel.Guild member Jessie Boylan co-curated, traveled, and organized the exhibition at the FotoFreo Festival in Perth, Australia in spring 2011 and was instrumental in bringing this exhibition to the Modern Art Museum (MAM) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It runs concurrently with The Second International Uranium Film Festival at the Cinematheque.

For more information on the Atomic Photographers Guild please visit: http://atomicphotographers.com/

About the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM)

The Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM) has a central role in the cultural history of Brazil, as one of the world's main visual arts spaces for the exhibition of visual arts. However, its importance is not just attributed by the visual arts and to the exhibition halls.

MAM interdisciplinary vocation has consolidated the museum's role as a space of debate and education, where courses, workshops, seminars, lectures and creative centers take place, being part of the institution's history, and direct impacting the country's visual arts production and critical reflection. It was one of the first centers of modern design, with courses proposed by names such as Tomás Maldonado, directly influenced by the Ulm School of Design. Teachers like Alexandre Wollner, Aloísio Magalhães and Karl Heinz Bergmiller have formed an all Brazilian designer school, which is the base of the current Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial –Higher School of industrial Design.

Hours are: Wednesday – Friday, 15h to 20 h, Saturday – Sunday 15h to 20 h.

Museu de Arte Moderna Cinemateca

Av Infante Dom Henrique 85

Parque do Flamengo

20021-140Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Tel: +55 (21) 2240 4944

http://www.mamrio.org.br/