Robin Richards To Perform Live Score For Chernobyl Documentary

Robin Richards (principle composer in math-rockers Dutch Uncles) has composed the score for a forthcoming documentary on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and will perform the music live at a series of special screenings. 'Birdsong: Stories from Pripyat' is a new documentary film by Clara Casian, and the film is tells the story of an amusement park in the Ukrainian city, which was due to be opened on the 1st May 1986. The disaster occurred just a few miles away on 26th April, and the park’s owners opened the park for a couple of hours the following day for the people of Pripyat before the city was evacuated. Eerie images of the deserted Pripyat Amusement Park now permeate the visual representation of the city’s desolation. Robin Richards’ piece is based on first hand testimonies of evacuees and liquidators from Ukraine and Belarus, while Casian’s filmmaking process is underpinned by nuclear research, and incorporates found and archival footage with original material filmed on location in Ukraine. The pair made a four-day research trip to the Chernobyl exclusion zone in May 2016 to meet with local artists, filmmakers and historians, collect original footage and archival material.

The screening with live score begin in Manchester on 30th September 2016 and full info can be found HERE.