Chernobyl Journey is a work in progress, being shown as an unfinished piece to mark the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster. On 26th April 1986, Reactor Number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in NE Ukraine exploded. A meltdown followed that lasted many days before the blaze was bought under control. Smoke containing radioactive ash was blown all around Europe by prevailing winds. By 2nd May 1986 the city of Pripyat and all the towns and villages within a 30K distance from the power plant had been evacuated. This was designated the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, an area which remains uninhabitable due to high levels of radioactive contamination. In the late 1990s a small herd of extremely rare Przewalski Horses were released into the Ukrainian part of the CEZ.
Chernobyl Journey is a mixed-media feature-length autobiographical documentary which recalls Sally's four trips to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone between 2009 and 2015 - journeys undertaken in search of rare Przewalski Horses that become a journey into her own past.
Sally Pearce gained an MA in Animation Direction from the National Film and TV School, UK, in 2008. Her animated and mixed media films have screened and won awards in multiple Festivals. In Nov, 2024 she completed her PhD by Practice in the animation department of the University of Wolverhampton.