| Black Wind, White Land | |
| Native Name: | Black Wind, White Land |
| Director: | Gene Kerrigan |
| Producer: | Ali Hewson Adi Roche |
| Narrator: | Ali Hewson |
| Music: | Ronan Hardiman |
| Cinematography: | Donal Gilligan |
| Editing: | Isobel Stephenson |
| Distributor: | Dreamchaser Productions |
| Runtime: | 53 minutes |
| Country: | Ireland |
| Language: | English |
Black Wind, White Land is a 1993 documentary film, researched and produced by the founders of the Chernobyl Children's Project International and explores the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986 and its consequences for the development of people in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The film was directed by Gene Kerrigan and produced by Ali Hewson, the wife of U2's singer Bono.[1]
Chernobyl Children's Project International was founded in Ireland in 1991 by Adi Roche in response to an appeal from Ukrainian and Belarusian doctors for aid. As a result of the organization's work, two documentaries have been released: Black Wind, White Land and Chernobyl Heart. Black Wind, White Land highlights the plight of fallout victims of the Chernobyl event.
Ali Hewson's involvement with Greenpeace protests against the Sellafield plant for nuclear reprocessing led her to become interested in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986.[2] After a request by Adi Roche,[3] she went to blighted, high-radiation exclusion zones in Belarus for three weeks to narrate part of the documentary.
Black Wind, White Land, was shown on RTÉ.[4] [2] [5] Hot Press magazine wrote that Hewson had "obvious gifts as a presenter, which include a sense of quiet compassion that draws forth the best from the people she talks with." Another reviewer said that the documentary was very effective until she started speaking.[2] Hewson disagreed with accusations that she was used on the project because of her husband's fame.[6]