X
  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • FilmBuff
  • 1 h 20 m
  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • FilmBuff
  • 1 h 20 m

Summary Fedor Alexandrovich is a radioactive man. He was four years old in 1986, when he was exposed to the toxic effects of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown and forced to leave his home. Now 33, he is an artist in Ukraine, with radioactive strontium in his bones and a singular obsession with Chernobyl, and with the giant, mysterious steel pyramid...

Directed By: Chad Gracia

Written By: Chad Gracia

  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • FilmBuff
  • 1 h 20 m
  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • FilmBuff
  • 1 h 20 m

The Russian Woodpecker

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
74
User Score Mixed or Average Based on 5 User Ratings
5.6
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary Fedor Alexandrovich is a radioactive man. He was four years old in 1986, when he was exposed to the toxic effects of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown and forced to leave his home. Now 33, he is an artist in Ukraine, with radioactive strontium in his bones and a singular obsession with Chernobyl, and with the giant, mysterious steel pyramid...

Directed By: Chad Gracia

Written By: Chad Gracia

Where to Watch

Top Cast

View All

Andrei Alexandrovich

Fedor's Father

Fedor Alexandrovich

Self

Igor Alexandrovich

Fedor's Son

Natalia Barabovskaya

Chernobyl Historian

Andrei Bilyk

Chernobyl Chief Engineer

Fedor Chebanenko

Duga Data Commander

Charlie D'Agata

Self - CBS News Foreign Correspondent

Anatoly Duatlov

Chernobyl Engineer

Fedor Dubrovka

Radar Professor

Mikhail Gorbachev

Former President Russia

Viktor Janoekovytsj

Former President Ukraine

Vitali Klytsjko

Mayor of Kiev, Opposition Leader

Vladimir Komarov

Head of Chernobyl Investigation Committee

Georgy Kopchinski

Last Soviet Head of Atomic Energy

Svetlana Korotkova

Art Critic

Nikolai Kravchuk

Nuclear Physicist

Andrew Michtrowski

Canadian Government Official

Vladimir Musiets

Duga Commander

Alexander Naumov

Chief Guard Chernobyl Zone

Leonid Petrov

Duga Maintenance Chief

View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
74
78% Positive
7 Reviews
22% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
74
78% Positive
7 Reviews
22% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Oct 13, 2015
The Russian Woodpecker is very much like Fedor himself — eccentric as hell, smart as a whip, and, at the end of the day, a heartbreaker.
By Chuck Wilson FULL REVIEW
100
Oct 13, 2015
In the end, it doesn't matter if you believe Alexandrovich's story that a $7 billion weapons system was ultimately the cause of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown; what matters is that Alexandrovich believes it so completely. And through his eyes (which seem to bug out outside of his skull), the entire Russia/Ukraine relationship takes on a vivid, personal immediacy.
By Drew Taylor FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 5 User Ratings
5.6
60% Positive
3 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
40% Negative
2 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 5 User Ratings
5.6
60% Positive
3 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
40% Negative
2 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

80
Oct 13, 2015
Director Chad Gracia’s The Russian Woodpecker offers a wild ride through Ukrainian and Soviet history.
By Leslie Felperin FULL REVIEW
80
Oct 13, 2015
Gracia succeeds brilliantly in delivering a chilling warning about where Putin and his spooks might go next, by giving Fedor full licence to act the biblical prophet.
FULL REVIEW
75
Feb 1, 2018
The post-apocalyptic landscapes captured by the courageous lens of cinematographer Artem Ryzhykov are deeply chilling, especially when Alexandrovich stumbles upon a classroom littered with gas masks.
By Matt Fagerholm FULL REVIEW
60
Oct 15, 2015
Whatever the facts, Mr. Gracia’s messily structured film works best as a document of fear in today’s Ukraine and as a kind of ghost story about the Soviet Union.
By Nicolas Rapold FULL REVIEW
58
Oct 15, 2015
The Russian Woodpecker is ostensibly an investigative documentary, but there’s precious little investigation; its primary subject, Fedor Alexandrovich, is peddling a hypothesis for which he offers no tangible evidence whatsoever.
By Mike D'Angelo FULL REVIEW
See All 9 Critic Reviews

Details

 View All
Production Company GraciaFilms, Roast Beef Productions, Rattapallax
Release Date Oct 16, 2015
Duration 1 h 20 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Website http://www.russianwoodpecker.com/
View All Details

Awards

International Documentary Association
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
Biografilm Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations

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