By Charlie Franklin-White
Aigerim Seitenova, the producer, began this side event by telling us the story of her grandmother. By the time Aigerim was born, her grandmother was blind, never to see her granddaughter, she would hold Aigerim’s face in her hands to get a sense of what she looked like and Aigerim would sing to her grandmother so that she could hear her voice. She sang for us too, a Qazaq song, and some of the Qazaq audience members joined in. The singing was cut short though, as Aigerim became too emotional, she explained, with tears in her eyes, that she now uses her voice, the same voice she had sung to her grandmother with, to advocate for the Qazaq women. She explained the special place that the documentary has in her heart, the production was entirely self-funded, and it was an emotional, personal journey. She completed much of the production herself, every translation, every subtitle, every cut was hers. And the little work she did not do, remained in her Qazaq community, ensuring that the documentary subjects were not only seen as victims, but people.
The documentary covers the testimony of six women from Qazaqstan, some of whom are direct family members of Aigerim. It gives their stories about life and living with the aftermath of the nuclear explosions and tests in the area close to their homes. I will not give a play-by-play of the documentary as I think there is great value in watching it (Aigerim plans to screen the documentary some more before releasing it on YouTube). However, I will go over two of the moments that I felt were most profound.
At one point in the documentary, Aigerim travels to the soviet Semipalatinsk test site, she dons a white hazmat suit and face mask before leaving the car. It is only her, the guide, and the driver, in the vast, flat, expanse that is the Semipalatinsk test site. She travels to ground zero, the site of the first explosion, recalling the 456 nuclear explosions and the 1.5 million Qazaqs that were affected. She feels both grief and anger, fury. The documentary cuts to a shot of some flowers growing nearby, like Aigerim – a symbol of defiance. Aigerim tells us that she needed a moment alone, as she refuses to cry in front of the guide – this is a private moment. Once, again she recalls her grandmother, resentful and raging. The mood on the 8th floor of the UN Church Centre is sombre, we are all sharing her pain and sharing her burden.
Later in the documentary, an intergenerational victim of the testing, Aigerim Yelgeldi, shares the trauma that the nuclear explosions caused her. Science knows that radiation disproportionately harms women and girls. It is also known that women whose reproductive systems are damaged by the radiation could pass that damage to their children. Yelgeldi is one of these children, she has battled with cancer for years and to this day she is still sick. She also shares about her infertility, clearly devastated, she laments the fact that cannot have children, that there is nothing she can do, and, in that way, she will always feel incomplete. She will always grieve for her stolen children. Trying to push this thought from her head, she reminds us of her loving husband, however, it is still clear just how deeply this pains her. With a forced, melancholic smile she reveals that, sometimes, in her private moments, she thinks that it is for the best. She has many health conditions, cancers, and traumas, things which she would not want to pass down to a baby. This scene stuck with me throughout the 3MSP, a reminder of the sheer injustice. I think about it a lot, and I am not sure how to describe how I feel, certainly sad, definitely angry. But also, another feeling deep in my stomach, a duty not to brush past her story, a duty to remember.
The documentary ends with a shot of Stronger than Death – a memorial in Semey. The statue depicts a mother and child, the mother’s body covers the child, attempting to protect it from the radiation, and the radioactive patriarchy. As the credits roll, the applause begins, the room is filled with a standing ovation. Aigerim makes her way to the front, as she speaks into the microphone, her voice shakes. She tells us that, during the screening, she did not want to look behind her and see how filled the room was, how filled it was with friends. And she was right, the room was filled, suffocatingly so, with emotion, everyone was touched so deeply, a few people wiped away tears. Aigerim was crying too, she has spent so long trying to protect this community of women, to be strong, but now, she says, she can be vulnerable and express her emotion. I will not forget how that room felt, it was full of support and care, everyone understanding and trying to empathise. After the horrors of the stories, it was warming to know, in that room, there was so much love.
More information about ‘JARA - Radioactive Patriarchy: Women of Qazaqstan’ as well as a teaser trailer can be found at Aigerim’s website: https://aigerimseitenova.com/jara_radioactivepatriarchy.
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