Fallout Zones

Overview

Deep in Russia's north, in the remote Mezen River basin, spent space rocket stages from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome have been raining down for decades. This film follows Sergei 'Chechen' Konnikov, a scrap metal scavenger who leads his crew on obsessive, months-long expeditions through vast forests and treacherous bogs. He hunts for fallen rockets by instinct and touch alone, navigating the terrain in search of his quarry. Built from Chechen’s raw footage shot in the 2000s, the film captures his pursuit at the outer edge of Russia's space industry. Fallout Zones is the result of a collaboration between filmmaker Igor Elukov and anthropologist Makar Tereshin.