After a successful international festival run across five countries – including premieres at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen and DOK.fest München – our feature documentary Fission (Spaltung) is now available for streaming in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland via the ZDF Mediathek. The film, co-directed by João Pedro Prado and Anton Yaremchuk and produced by Michael Kalb, continues its international festival journey through 2025 and 2026.
Originally conceived during the COVID-19 lockdowns as a film on conspiracy theories, Fission evolved into a cinematic exploration of how nuclear energy continues to divide not only German society, but the European continent at large. Without voice-over or expert interviews, the film juxtaposes life in Gundremmingen, Bavaria – where Germany’s largest nuclear power plant once stood – with Choczewo, a Polish town on the Baltic coast set to host the country’s first reactor. Through poetic observation, it centers the people whose lives are deeply entangled with nuclear power – from ex-workers and anti-activists to a newborn pro-nuclear youth.
Critics have praised the film for its bold and nuanced approach. The Tagesspiegel calls Fission a film that reintroduces complexity into Germany’s debate around nuclear power, and highlights its "humorous, artistic, but not preachy" tone. “On a personal level, it is also the document of a friendship [between João Pedro Prado and Anton Yaremchuk].”
As the global energy debate becomes ever more polarized, this is a film that urges audiences to listen more and simplify less.