Kino was (and is) a Soviet post-punk band that started in 1981. The band was hugely popular even though most of their music was only distributed through bootlegs.

In 1986, Student filmmaker Sergei Lysenko approached the band about filming 4 music videos meant to work together as a short narrative film. The band were sold on the idea of filming the videos, and only then did Lysenko tell them they would be filming in Chernobyl, where the nuclear power plant only just had a melt down. Not to worry, said Lysenko, drinking lots of wine will absorb the radiation!

Bandleader Victor Tsoi died in a car accident in 1990, and the band finished their final album and broke up. They reunited in 2012, and again in 2019 (and are still together today) but their activities were sidelined by covid.

Enjoy!