The Polygon is the story of a Kazakh village that lies just 18 kilometers from the former Soviet Nuclear Test Site. Over forty years and 600 nuclear explosions left the land, water and people battling the effects of severe long term radiation exposure. Their plight has been ignored by both the Russian and Kazakh governments and their story has remained untold until now.
We experience this journey through the eyes of the villagers themselves, including Bolat Baltabek, a teacher, father and town leader. Having lost his lost sister, brother, son, and countless neighbors to radiation related diseases, he becomes our guide and through him we being to understand the struggles and strengths of the Sarzhal villagers as they struggle to make their lives work in an irradiated environment.
