Tilian Armando Friedrich is a German film director and media educator, who started making movies in 2019. Tizian Stromp Zargari is also a German-born filmmaker, who grew up in France. They joined forces in 2023, when they directed their debut feature Nuclear Nomads, a sombre register of the lives of power plant inspectors in France. The movie premiered last year in the Berlinale.

This interview was conducted in December 2024 as part of ArteKino 2024. Nuclear Nomads is available to watch online for free during the entire month – just click here for more information.

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Victor Fraga – Could you please tell us how the Nuclear Nomads journey began?

Tizian and Kilian – The idea for this film was born from a seemingly contradictory image: that of a camper van, a vehicle we associate with holidays or retirement life, juxtaposed against the brutalist and industrial architecture of nuclear power plants. This image sparked a desire to understand more. Very quickly, we set out ourselves – initially by car, sleeping in tents, moving from one power plant to another, camping in nature or at worker campsites. We would knock on camper van doors and caravans, seeking to understand the lives of the people living there.

Eventually, we found individuals whose stories intrigued us – people with strong agency, relatively young, and open to embarking on the adventure of filming. At that point, we rented a camper van ourselves and became nomads during our filming blocks. The camper van not only helped us connect with the people we wanted to film, but it was also highly versatile. It served as a base for obtaining filming permits, preparing meals, and sleeping. This flexibility allowed us to adapt to the unpredictable schedules dictated by the working conditions of the subcontractor companies employing our protagonists.

VF – This is your debut feature. How did you come to the decision to share the director’s chair?

T&K – Pragmatically, there are two main reasons: first, our shared interest in the subject, and second, pooling our respective university film budgets to enable us to create a feature film.

On a deeper level, the spirit of openness to other perspectives and collaboration shaped the very “framework” of the film. Directing alongside another filmmaker is an incredible asset, but it requires a willingness to make compromises. Documentary filmmaking demands a great deal of resources and involves moments of doubt during writing and post-production. Having two directors allowed us to support each other through those challenges.

VF – Please tell us about your festival and distribution journey, from the Berlinale (where I first watched your film) to ArteKino.

T&K – After premiering at the 73rd Berlinale, we enjoyed a wonderful festival tour, often accompanied by one of the protagonists – and now friend – Vincent. The film was screened at many international festivals, including the Jean Rouch Film Festival in Paris, Dokufest in Kosovo, and the Ecofilm Festival in South Korea. This journey culminated in winning the German Short Film Prize 2023 in the medium-length category [Nuclear Nomads has a duration of 73 minutes, which qualifies the a featurette/medium-length movie in some countries].

We also participated in several events blending social science, visual anthropology, and filmmaking, such as the Journées Internationales de Sociologie du Travail in Évry-sur-Seine, screenings at EHESS in Paris, and MuCEM in Marseille.

We are happy not only for the film’s success but also for the increased visibility of the working conditions of contractors in the nuclear industry.

VF – Were you concerned about your own risk of radiation exposure while making the film, and what did you do to mitigate it?

T&K – We researched this thoroughly during our scouting trips. Under normal operating conditions, nuclear power plants emit very low levels of radiation. These emissions are strictly regulated to remain well below thresholds considered harmful to human health or the environment. So there has been no worries to us.

VF – France is a country of strong unions and not typically associated with such precarious working conditions. Were you surprised by the plight of these “nomads,” and are there parallels in other countries?

T&K – Having already researched working conditions in seasonal jobs in the Bavarian countryside and the gig economy in Munich, we were not entirely surprised.

Instead of using the word “insalubrious”, we prefer to describe these conditions as precarious. Unlike exploitative industries in historically marginalised or colonised countries – such as mining or fast fashion – there are still controls in place due to the remaining social achievements related to workers’ safety and wages.

However, precariousness has been exacerbated by neoliberal policies since the 1980s. Workers in this industry often lack control over the time and space in which they operate, leading to isolation and rootlessness. The blurred lines between private and professional life, extreme flexibility requirements, competition between subcontractors, and relentless efforts to undermine unionised workers all contribute to this precariousness.

VF – Your music score is dark and ominous. Did you set out to construct a documentary with horror aesthetics?

T&K – The music was designed to reflect the tension and unease surrounding the nuclear nomads. While we didn’t explicitly aim for “horror” aesthetics, the ominous tone mirrors the invisible threats they face, such as radiation exposure. These landscapes are somehow forgotten yet incredibly active at the same time – how do they sound? How does it feel to be there? We tried to highlight this feeling through the ever-present score. Additionally, the music amplifies the psychological weight of their daily reality, connecting the audience to their fears and challenges simply by existing around nuclear power plants.

VF – What was the most difficult moment of the shoot, both physically and psychologically?

T&K – Living and filming alongside the nuclear nomads meant embracing their itinerant lifestyle. Physically, the hardest part was the constant uncertainty about their next location. Their schedules changed rapidly, and we had to adapt to their itineraries. Psychologically, the most challenging aspect was balancing respect for their boundaries while striving to get close enough to tell their stories authentically.

Adding to this, we became ill during the final shooting block and had to make the best of the material we had at that point. The drive back in the camper van from southern France to Munich – sick, exhausted, and Covid-positive – was a real test. It took us weeks to fully recover from that experience.

VF – Have you stayed in touch with any of your subjects, and do you know if anything significant has happened since? For example, has anyone developed any radiation-related conditions?

T&K – Yes, we’ve stayed in touch with all of our protagonists. They’ve seen the film and like it, even though it is always a surprise seeing oneself on screen. After the film was completed, we visited them again and screened it for them in their own environments. So far, we’re not aware of anyone developing radiation-related illnesses, but this remains a persistent concern for these workers.

That said, their daily habits are often unhealthy due to the conditions they live and work in. While we hope for the best for them, we also refrain from judging how they cope with such a solitary lifestyle.

VF – What’s next for the two nomad filmmakers?

T&K – We are currently working on our respective graduation projects, both of which are feature-length films. These projects continue to explore the themes and perspectives introduced in Nuclear Nomads – stories that critically examine society, provoke thought, and bring underrepresented realities to light. Our goal remains to create cinema that transcends commercial pressures and deeply engages with the world.

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Kilian Armando Friedrich and Tizian Stromp Zargari are pictured at the top of this article. The other image is a still from Nuclear Nomads.