Russian Gas and the Nenets

Russian Gas and the Nenets

75 mins | Documentary | Nov. 14, 2023

In the heart of the Arctic, the Yamal peninsula is the world’s largest gas exploitation zone, a symbol of Russia’s energy hyperpower, which caused the appetite of oil corporations. But the Yamal peninsula is also the ancestral home of the Nenets, who have been pasturing here with their droves for over 200 generations. Every year the nomads undertake a journey of 1500 km. But for how much longer can they survive? Today in Yamal, pastures have given way to gas fields. Growing towns, a railway, an airport, the deep scars on the landscape caused by extraction of gas and oil, and the new nuclear-powered icebreakers, which will create busy shipping lanes in the Arctic, are all changing the local ecosystem. With the industry dramatically modifying the landscape, accelerating the effects of global warming, the Nenets way of life is under threat. The documentary gives a unique insight into a vanishing way of life, enhanced by stunning aerial footage, and rare access to an extraordinary people.

Russian Gas and the Nenets

75 mins | Documentary | Nov. 14, 2023

Russian Gas and the Nenets
In the heart of the Arctic, the Yamal peninsula is the world’s largest gas exploitation zone, a symbol of Russia’s energy hyperpower, which caused the appetite of oil corporations. But the Yamal peninsula is also the ancestral home of the Nenets, who have been pasturing here with their droves for over 200 generations. Every year the nomads undertake a journey of 1500 km. But for how much longer can they survive? Today in Yamal, pastures have given way to gas fields. Growing towns, a railway, an airport, the deep scars on the landscape caused by extraction of gas and oil, and the new nuclear-powered icebreakers, which will create busy shipping lanes in the Arctic, are all changing the local ecosystem. With the industry dramatically modifying the landscape, accelerating the effects of global warming, the Nenets way of life is under threat. The documentary gives a unique insight into a vanishing way of life, enhanced by stunning aerial footage, and rare access to an extraordinary people.
Producers Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, PROCIREP, Česká televize, RTBF, Yle, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, VRT, Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), ARTE GEIE, Umedia, uFund, MEDIA Creative Europe, UpNorth Film, Little Big Story, Current Time TV, napafilms oy, Sophimages, Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral Belge, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Domino Productions
Original title Gaz russe, la dernière route des Nenets
Directors Sergio Ghizzardi
Writers

Cast

Florian Stammler

as Self - Interviewee

Julienne Stroeve

as Self - Interviewee

Alexandra Terekhina

as Self - Interviewee

Vassily Serotetto

as Self - Interviewee

Alik Serotetto

as Self - Interviewee

Galina Serotetto

as Self - Interviewee

Olga Serotetto

as Self - Interviewee

Tolik Serotetto

as Self - Interviewee

Myadme Khudi

as Self - Interviewee

Myangche Khudi

as Self - Interviewee

Valerii Khudi

as Self - Interviewee

Nelya Leonidovna

as Self - Interviewee

Aleksander Aliseevic

as Self - Interviewee

Vyacheslav Ruksha

as Self - Interviewee

Nikolay Monko

as Self

Vadim Petrenko

as Self

Vladimir Putin

as Self (archive footage)