Cuba, Chernobyl, and COVID-19: Film Screening of A Translator (Un Traductor)

Did you know that Cuban doctors helped save Chernobyl’s children? See the deeply moving Cuban feature film A Translator (Un Traductor) that tells their story, available beginning Friday, July 10, for virtual screening with English subtitles. A film clip is available here.

On Tuesday, July 21, 2020, at 5:00pm EDT, join the directors and further experts for a live discussion via Zoom Webinar. Cuban brothers Sebastián and Rodrigo Barriuso, directors of the award-winning drama, will be in conversation with Dr. Kate Brown, professor and author of Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future, and Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK and Global Exchange.

Today, Cuban doctors are traveling the world, helping treat victims of COVID-19. But few know that in late 1989, Cuba began a free, 21-year effort to save the children of Chernobyl, treating them at a special hospital just outside Havana.

Un Traductor tells the emotional true story of a Cuban professor of Russian, who finds himself ordered to translate for those young “patients from Chernobyl” and their families. At first reluctant, he gradually becomes totally committed to their wellbeing, but at a price.

 A Translator (Un Traductor) (2018), dir. Rodrigo and Sebastián Barriuso
 A Translator (Un Traductor) (2018), dir. Rodrigo and Sebastián Barriuso

Dr. Kate Brown’s landmark book, painstakingly researched but written almost like a thriller, uncovers the secrets and myths that downplayed the devastating health consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the women-led peace group CODEPINK and the co-founder of the human rights group Global Exchange. She has been an advocate for social justice for more than 40 years. Described as “one of America’s most committed — and most effective — fighters for human rights” by New York Newsday, and “one of the high profile leaders of the peace movement” by the Los Angeles Times, she was one of 1,000 exemplary women from 140 countries nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the millions of women who do the essential work of peace worldwide.

The Webinar will feature interviews and discussions with the speakers, followed by questions and answers from the audience. It is co-hosted by Linda Pentz Gunter (Beyond Nuclear), Raleigh Joyner (Goethe-Institut Washington), and Nora Löhle (Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Washington, DC).

More information: Eventbrite