Culture

The Russians living in an eternally toxic wasteland

My Deadly, Beautiful City - a short film from the edge of the world

https://vimeo.com/150350153

The arctic mining city of Norilsk is one of the most polluted in the world - but many residents are still proud to call it home.

Not many people have heard of Norilsk, an industrial city in an isolated part of Arctic Russia. No roads or trains lead there; internet is severely limited; and it is it closed to foreigners. Getting there is very difficult. Yet despite its obscurity, Norilsk has one of the largest mining and metallurgical complexes in the world and produces most of the earth’s palladium, an essential mineral in electronics and automobiles. Most of us probably have a bit of Norilsk in our pockets, bags or homes.

For more information on the film and location, check out the article on the New York Times Op-Docs page opdoc-norilsk-facebookjumbo