Auk Nr 8

Im Herzen eines einst blühenden ukrainischen Kohleabbaugebietes schürfen arbeitslose oder schon in Rente befindliche Bergleute. Sogar ihre Kinder graben immer neue Tunnel. Vor einigen Jahren beschlossen die Bewohner illegal Kohle abzubauen, und unterhöhlen seither die ganze Region. In stillgelegten Minen, unter den Wäldern, aber auch unter verfallenen Häusern, Vergnügungsparks und den eigenen Gemüsegärten wird gefördert, was der Boden hergibt. Die prekäre ökonomische Lage dieser Gegend zeigt sich anhand der Familiengeschichte der Sikanovs.

In the heart of a once thriving Ukrainian coal-mining region everybody digs – retirees, unemployed miners and even the children. Years ago, the town‘s desperate residents decided to start mining illegally; they excavate everywhere: in abandoned mines, under the basements of demolished buildings, in the neighborhood woods and leisure parks, as well as in their own vegetable gardens. The story focuses on the Sikanov family, which has three children. 15-year-old Yura, the grandson of a powerful Soviet plant director, is the head of the family working as a miner in the illegal pit. Despite a looming economic crisis and increasing responsibility for his two sisters, Yura still dreams of his own café somewhere far from home.