🎬 Uranium Legends

Northern Bohemia undergoes a radical transformation after the Second World War. From what was once an idyllic periphery between Stráž pod Ralskem and Hamr, a center of heavy industry, experiments, and military secrecy emerges. The discovery of one of Czechoslovakia's largest uranium deposits in the 1960s triggers a new uranium rush and gives birth to a Northern Bohemian Klondike. Thousands of people come to the region seeking money, work, and a new identity. The miner becomes a hero, uranium a symbol of "peace," while all mining is directed to the Soviet Union. New housing developments, mines, and chemical plants are created, and local society divides into longtime residents and a privileged uranium elite. Beneath the surface, however, a high price is paid – the risk of radiation, extreme working conditions, and extensive ecological damage. Chemical mining transforms the landscape for decades to come. With the end of the Cold War comes a sudden decline, and abandoned mines replace earlier promises of prosperity. People who left their health and dreams here remain with unanswered questions. The film tells this story through personal accounts of witnesses and experts. It does not judge but reveals a past whose consequences are felt to this day. At a time when nuclear threats are being revived, the story of Czech uranium acquires a chilling topicality.