Filming the Bomb

Im Juni 1946 wird das Bikini-Atoll im Pazifik zum Testgebiet für die Operation Crossroads ernannt. Es ist der Beginn einer verheerenden Reihe von Kernwaffenversuchen. Hunderte Fotografen und Kamerateams sollen die Detonationen der Bomben festhalten, um der Wissenschaft neue Erkenntnisse über ihr Zerstörungspotenzial zu liefern – und um Imagefilme zu produzieren. Leichtsinnig gibt die US-Regierung Überlebenstipps in Werbeclips und der Atompilz wird zeitweilig sogar zu einem Symbol der Popkultur.

The FILMING THE BOMB episode reveals the ways cameras became as important as the weapons themselves. In 2017, the U.S. released films from a generation of nuclear tests -- allowing scientists to study the last images of thermonuclear explosions we hope we’ll ever see. But just getting them took years of trying – and dozens of nuclear explosions. In Los Angeles, a secret film studio, Lookout Mountain, staffed by Hollywood professionals, produced countless films aimed at diverse audiences from policymakers to soldiers, scientists to civilians. The goal: convince anyone who will listen – including themselves – that they knew how to wield this new power. Many of these films are being made public for the first time ever, shedding new light on one of the darkest and most dangerous times in history. New waves of declassified films, photographs and documents are telling us more than we ever knew about the Cold War.