GRADINA SOVIETICA – THE SOVIET GARDEN Film Review — The Hidden Truth

Stalin is coming down the steps of the Palace of the Soviets followed by his fellow men. It’s the fifties— the beginning of the Cold War. After his death, Nikita Khrushchev becomes the leader of the Soviet Communist Party. He will aim for the Soviet Union to become first worldwide in scientific and technical development.

The main character and filmmaker is Dragos, a man in his 40s with an imposing physique, a mild appearance and especially gentle manners. You can see him, in his first steps towards the truth, walking through the open air markets in his native country, Moldova.  He finds folks who grow seeds traditionally – seed to seed – because hybrids rule the day. He asks questions almost like he is afraid to disturb. To this reviewer, his stance says a lot about the Moldovan people, slaves for the ages of Russian hegemony. “This is not done anymore” says a local producer. “Now everything is made from soy, hybrids are everywhere”.

Dragos is telling a little known story of tragedy.  Stimulated by his grandmother’s lethal illness, and her memories of some mysterious agricultural experiments in the past, Dragos decides to investigate why the cancer rate has increased in his home country lately.  He wonders whether there is some connection between the fatal statistics and these secret scientific endeavors.

This very personal documentary digs into rare found footage in order to portray the industrial shock imposed on Moldova by the Soviet State.  We learn also of Nikita Khrushchev’s secret plan to transform this little State into the titular <em>Soviet Garden</em>, through the application of atomic energy in agriculture. This involved exposing Moldovan soil to radiation experiments that aimed for mutations in seeds and fruit for crops more resistant to climatic conditions, and higher volume crops. Harvesting these unprecedented crops, would enable food supply for the entire Soviet Union.

We join Dragos and his camera to learn more about the various stages of Gamma Field’s research on crops. An old and small man sits on a folding chair in the middle of a cornfield on a bright sunny day. He is biologist Dimitry Goncharenko, who was still a student when the radiobiology experiments started in Moldova.

He has trouble speaking and he stutters.  He talks about his experience as if it is a fairy tale. His face lights up when he shows a b/w photo showing the first unit used to irradiate seeds before planting.  It is an old American-built Studebaker Truck. He affectionately calls it Marusia. A second photo shows him lifting giant bushes.  With satisfaction he points out how radiation quantitatively increased the agricultural yields. He is proud of his work. Yet, he admits that experiments should have been initially tested in trial laboratories, rather than in  immense territories.The expectations were too big and the Party wanted big results.   Quality was ignored, and only quantity mattered.

THE SOVIET GARDEN was recently screened as part of The Romanian Film Festival, 7th Edition in November.  For more information visit the American Romanian Cultural Society of Seattle website.

For more information or to watch the film, visit the Facebook page for The Soviet Garden.

Images Courtesy of THE SOVIET GARDEN