After the Apocalypse

The Soviet Union tested its first atom bomb in Kazakhstan’s Semipalatinsk region in 1949, with little regard for the 200,000 people living there. The area was exposed to high levels of radiation, which led to countless bodily deformities in future generations. Sixty years later and prenatal damage is still widespread as a result of the testing. Bibigul, the daughter of a man who survived the ‘experiment’, is pregnant. Her doctor thinks it likely that her child will be born with Down syndrome. He wants to prevent the birth of disabled children by introducing a ‘genetic pass’. But what is more important? The right of a woman to have children; or the right of children to physical integrity? Without taking sides, this documentary tackles questions of great ethical complexity. (Zurich Film Festival)