Event

Living in the Shadow

In the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown disaster, Canadian photographer Lu Taskey wondered what it all would mean for the Ukrainian diaspora. Information about the accident and its impact on relatives in Ukraine was hard to come by, heavily censored by the Soviet government.

So in 1998, Lu and his friend Jerry Shudrak, a dentist from Toronto, slipped behind the Iron Curtain and into Ukraine to penetrate the exclusion zone surrounding Chernobyl. What they witnessed was unimagined devastation, all captured by Lu's camera.

When they returned to Canada, Lu's powerful photographs and Jerry's resolve helped to inspire a massive humanitarian response that eventually became the Children of Chernobyl Canada Fund, a multi-million dollar charity still in existence today.

Filled with Lu's moving photos and archival video footage, this documentary tells their incredible story.