The Power of Matter

Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise(en)

Using only archive film and a new musical score by the band Mogwai, Mark Cousins presents an impressionistic kaleidoscope of our nuclear times – protest marches, Cold War sabre-rattling, Chernobyl and Fukishima – but also the sublime beauty of the atomic world, and how x-rays and MRI scans have improved human lives. The nuclear age has been a nightmare, but dreamlike too.

Seabrook 1977(en)

In April 1977, the small coastal town of Seabrook, New Hampshire became an international symbol in the battle over atomic energy. Concerned about the dangers of potential radioactive accidents, over 2,000 members of the Clamshell Alliance, a coalition of environmental groups, attempted to block construction of a nuclear power plant. 1,414 people were arrested in that civil disobedience protest and jailed en masse in National Guard armories for two weeks.

Atomic Hope: Inside the Pro-Nuclear Movement(en)

Is nuclear energy the solution to the climate crisis? Whether it is the only carbon-neutral technology capable of tackling the crisis or a fatally convenient stopgap, time is running out.

Fission(de)

The climate crisis, Germany’s nuclear phase-out and Russia’s war against Ukraine are just three of the heavy pieces in the dramatic game about the future of energy. Caught in the middle are two small towns with barely a thousand residents each: Gundremmingen in Bavaria, home to a shuttered nuclear plant, and Choczewo on Poland’s Baltic coast, where the country’s first facility is now under construction. What do the good people on the ground think about it all?

Letter from Tokyo(ja)

Letter from Tokyo is a documentary film that looks at art, culture and politics in Tokyo, Japan. Shot over three months during the summer of 2018, and with a particular focus on grass roots arts initiatives, the use of public space, and queer politics, the film provides a snapshot of Japan’s capital in the run up to the 2020 olympics.

Voices from Chernobyl(fr)

This film does not deal with Chornobyl, but rather with the world of Chornobyl, about which we know very little. Eyewitness reports have survived: scientists, teachers, journalists, couples, children... They tell of their old daily lives, then of the catastrophe. Their voices form a long, terrible but necessary supplication which traverses borders and stimulates us to question our status quo.

Decommissioning Fukushima 2024: Roadmap on the Brink(en)

Thirteen years since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, the government's plan to decommission the plant is at a crossroads. We take a close look at the efforts to secure Fukushima's future.

Uranium(en)

Explores the consequences of uranium mining in Canada. Toxic and radioactive waste pose profound, long-term environmental hazards. Miners suffer a substantially increased risk of getting cancer. Most mining occurs on Indigenous People's land, violating their traditional economic and spiritual lives. Given our limited knowledge of the risks associated with uranium mining, why continue?

Th (Part 11: Dr. Helen Caldicott)(en)

Dr. Helen Caldicott is the most prominent anti-nuclear activist in the world. She's been featured on CNN, 60 Minutes, CBC and Democracy Now. In the 80s, Helen Caldicott campaigned against nuclear weapons testing in the pacific (still responsible today for the majority of tritium we're exposed to), and against the notion of a winnable nuclear war. She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts. She has always made inaccurate statements regarding civilian nuclear power. But, since the Fukushima-Diachii radiation release has caused (and is projected to cause) zero fatalities... http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/... ...her tone has changed when speaking to supporters. This has not been acknowledged by prime-time media, as they continue to use her as a source. Any person or media outlet should check Caldicott's history of statements (on any subject) against a domain expert before using her as a source.

Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island(en)

In this thrilling documentary, indomitable women fight back against the nuclear industry to expose one of the biggest cover-ups in US history: the 1979 Three Mile Island meltdown and its aftermath. The film reveals the never-before-told stories of four intrepid homemakers who take their case all the way to the Supreme Court, and a young female journalist who's caught in the radioactive crossfire.

Nuclear Now(en)

With unprecedented access to the nuclear industry in France, Russia, and the United States, Nuclear Now explores the possibility for the global community to overcome the challenges of climate change and energy poverty to reach a brighter future through the power of nuclear energy. Beneath our feet, Uranium atoms in the Earth’s crust hold incredibly concentrated energy. Science unlocked this energy in the mid-20th century, first for bombs and then to power submarines. The United States led the effort to generate electricity from this new source. Yet in the mid-20th century as societies began the transition to nuclear power and away from fossil fuels, a long-term PR campaign to scare the public began, funded in part by coal and oil interests.

Elektro-Lähmung - Ein Film gegen die politische Ohnmacht(de)

An initiative discusses a videotape in which a group of activists portrays themselves and their work against the "nuclear power mafia." After argumentatively and polemically confronting the economic and political power of the energy industry, the activists call for the shutdown of escalators to counteract people's electro-paralysis.

Thorium, the Far Side of Nuclear Power(fr)

Ever heard of the Thorium molten salt reactor? That's hardly surprising, as for 70 years, it has been inexplicably kept under wraps by the nuclear industry, despite the fact it could revolutionise energy production. It offers the promise of nuclear energy without waste and without danger. The "green atom": fact or fiction? Research that was dropped without explanation in 1973, has now become a topic of lively discussion...

Kim Jong-un: The Unauthorized Biography(fr)

A journey through several countries to find those who really know Kim Jong-un, North Korea's leader, in an attempt to profile a contradictory dictator who seems to rule his nation with both disturbing benevolence and cold cruelty while being worshipped as a living god by his subjects in exalted displays of ridiculous fanaticism.

Inside Chernobyl with Ben Fogle(en)

Ben Fogle spends a week living inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, gaining privileged access to the doomed Control Room 4 where the disaster first began to unfold.

The Atom: A Love Affair(en)

With a wealth of fantastic archive footage and a series of revealing interviews with those who had first-hand experience, filmmaker Vicki Lesley tells the turbulent story of the West’s love-hate relationship with a nuclear power over the past seventy years. Capturing both the tantalising promise and the repeated disappointments of this singular technology, the film reveals how the post-war, romantic fantasy of an Atom-powered future developed into the stormy, on-off relationship still playing out today. A tale of scientific passion and political intrigue all wrapped up in the packaging of a sentimental screen melodrama.

Sista varningen!(sv)

About the question of whether we should proceed in developing and using nuclear power and the breakdown at Three Mile Island, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in March 28, 1979.

Nuclear Fuel Waste Management(en)

A narrated account of Atomic Energy of Canada's plan to construct permanent nuclear waste storage facilities in the geological formations of the Canadian Shield. Commissioned to Westminster Films Limited by the National Film Board for Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment.

Nuclear Fuel Waste Research: The Canadian Program(en)

The Canadian program for nuclear fuel waste management is explained through interviews with people working inside and outside the nuclear industry and by a visit to the Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment, where a long-range used-fuel disposal program is being developed. Revised version from the film Nuclear Fuel Waste Management (106C 0179 542). Produced for the NFB by Crawley Films Ltd. for Atomic Energy Canada, Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment.

Wolsong: Vanishing Town(ko)