Black Snow

Furious about the pollution caused by open-pit coal mines in her home town, Natalia Zubkova takes her phone and starts filming. A local phenomenon at first, her fearless reporting soon reaches an ever-growing audience. But when the harassment begins, and her children are threatened, Natalia faces an impossible choice.  

Underneath the Russian city of Kiselyovsk in Siberia lies one of the Earth’s largest coal reserves. The coal is won through open-pit mines. There are nine of them in Kiselyovsk, causing a wide range of environmental and health problems. Both of Natalia Zubkova’s daughters were born with severe kidney defects, linked to coal pollution. The tap water contains worms. And one day, the streets are covered in pitch-black snow, caused by a local coal enrichment plant ignoring regulations.

Because the state media only heaps praise on the coal industry, Natalia – ‘an ordinary mom’, as she describes herself – starts filming the reality around her. She mobilises residents and confronts local authorities. When her footage about the black snow scandal is picked up by international media, she begins feeling the weight – and the threat – of government surveillance, harassment and smear campaigns. And when her children are threatened, and her husband turns against her, Natalia has to summon all her strength to do the right thing. 

Activist Natalia Zubkova will be present at the Q&As for Black Snow at the festival.