When residents of a remote Siberian coal mining city discover that an abandoned mine has caught fire, pushing toxic gas into their homes, they turn to homemaker-turned-journalist Natalia Zubkova for help. But after her news coverage of the coal fire goes viral, the government launches a massive effort to cover up the truth. In the shadow of an increasingly authoritarian government, Natalia embarks on a dangerous quest to reveal the full extent of the environmental catastrophe unfolding in her midst. Filmed over the course of four turbulent years in Russia and eastern Europe, this taut and revelatory eco-thriller shines new light on the human cost of coal and the clandestine tactics of Russia’s modern surveillance state
