May 1986: Stefan Jarl travels to the small town of Talma in Lapland to begin shooting his - already fully-financed - first feature film. "Gode människor" is to give an accout of Sami life. But slowly it becomes evident just what consequences the very recent accident in the distant Chernobyl nuclear power station has for the reindeer breeders: Their land and their livestock are contaminated by caesium. With a heavy heart, Jarl abandons his plans for a feature film in favour of documenting the precarious reality of the Sami situation: "The nuclear catastrophe posed a threat to their entire existence, and it was getting worse on a daily basis. I began to realize that my own future was also at issue: Without wilderness, without the conception of the untouched, of harmony, of a state of equilibrium, of what we associate with the term wilderness, our lives become devoid of all that is sacred." Stefan Jarl's film thus includes a plea to Sami reindeer breeders that is still relevant today: "Every human being should be saying: This cannot be tolerated! Shut down all nuclear power plants and everything that has to do with nuclear power!"