The International Uranium Film Festival

Even though we don't think much about it, the world is still full of nuclear weapons. As part of that, a group of film makers and scientists got together a couple of years ago and created the International Uranium Film Festival: various movies related to nuclear weapons are shown and then discussions between film makers, scientists, activists and the public follow. Currently, the festival is on tour in the United States and this weekend the festival is happening in Seattle, at the Northwest Film Forum. Seattle is a particularly noteworthy location given that the city is just some miles away from the Bangor Trident Base, where the US Navy stockpiles approximately 1,500 nuclear warheads.

I went yesterday to the opening night of the festival, and it was really cool. In addition to the discussion about the current status of nuclear weapons and the tensions in the world, I could watch the movie "The Atomic Cafe", which was a very curious and, if I may say so, entertaining documentary. The movie is a collage of various films from the late 40's and the 50's around atomic weapons, which were intend to "educate" the American people about such weapons. Despite the subject, you can't help but chuckle at the innocence of the slogans of the time: for example, if you are a kid at school and see the flash of an atomic detonation, all you have to do is "duck and cover" under your school desk and you're good to go! If you can get this movie on any streaming platform, it can make for a very interesting time.








Location: Seattle, WA, USA

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