Sriprakash

It began as an attempt to capture the plight of Jadugoda residents, went on to highlight the harmful effects of radioactive uranium mining and managed to send shock waves across the world.

And now Jadugoda- The Black Magic, a nine-minute documentary on the problems faced by miners of Jadugoda in East Singhbhum captured by Ranchi-based filmmaker Shriprakash, is set for a Brazil debut at the Uranium Film Festival scheduled in June.

The 17-day festival — to be hosted at Rio-de-Janerio’s Museum of Modern Art — will see 40 other documentaries like Atomic Bombs on Planet Earth, Radioactive Wolves and Sacred Poison that have already made headlines.

Speaking to The Telegraph last week, Sriprakash said he was disturbed by the plight of Jadugoda residents whose lives were largely and adversely affected by the rampant mining activities being carried out in the region. Hence in 2009, he decided to turn to the camera.

“Jadugoda mines are being exploited by various companies. The mining of Uranium in the region and the subsequent radiation effect has created health problems for people living there,” he pointed out.

A lot of the facts presented in the documentary were based on a survey carried out by a doctors’ team from International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War that visited Jadugoda in 2008.

Apart from Jadugoda- The Black Magic, Sriprakash has 12 other documentaries to his credit, all of which have been screened and won laurels at national and international festivals.

Sriprakash, who completed and released his documentary in April 2009, has already won appreciation from critics. The film has also garnered close to 58, 408 “likes” or approvals on Facebook and various other social-networking sites.

“It is a great honour for me that my documentary has been selected for the festival. Jadugoda is a small place with its bunch of problems, which will now be highlighted on an international stage,” he said.

The filmmaker also has to his credit a 55-minute documentary — Buddha weeps in Jadugoda — which won the Grand Pix at the 8th Earth Vision (Earth Environment Film Festival), in Tokyo in 2000.

Some of the other films that has won him laurels are Buru Garra (30 minute) made in 2008, Fire Within (50 minutes) made in 2002, Kiski Raksha (51 minutes) made in 1993 and more recently Err (52 minutes), which was made in 2011.

As of now, Sriprakash works for Doordarshan.