Indiewire’s Project of the Day: ‘The Atom: A Love Affair’

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The Atom: A Love Affair

Logline: A feature documentary revealing the tragicomic true story of our relationship with that most controversial energy source, nuclear power – as told by those who were there. After 7 turbulent decades, is the atomic love affair coming to an end?

Elevator Pitch:

Nuclear power is one of those divisive, “hot button” topics people can never agree about. But how did we get here? “The Atom: A Love Affair” reveals an oft-forgotten history through frank testimony from major players on both sides of the Atlantic – including politicians, scientists, engineers and campaigners. Their dramatic recollections are brought to life with a treasure trove of original archive material and clever re-purposing of vintage industrial films. Instead of trying to argue for or against nuclear power, the film spins the events into a turbulent, on-off love story whose drama is still playing out today.

Production Team:

Director – Vicki Lesley
Executive Producer – Christopher Hird
Director of Photography – Michael Timney, Owen Scurfield
Editor – Phil Reynolds

Co-production with one of the UK’s leading independent documentary companies, Dartmouth Films, whose credits include Sundance-selected films “The End of the Line” (2009), “The Flaw” (2011) and “Fire in the Blood” (2013) as well as many Sheffield DocFest-premiered films including “Still the Enemy Within,” which won the 2014 Audience Award and “The Divide” (2015), based on the hit book “The Spirit Level”

About the Film:

Back in 2006, nuclear was creeping back into the news as the new saviour of climate change. As a Greenpeace supporter and child of the 80s I was intrigued – how was this relic of the past suddenly making a comeback? I’ve worked on the film for 10 years (including a break to have my son) and have grown fascinated by the way history repeats itself – and by the complex emotions on both sides of this fractious debate. Only by understanding the past – and each other – can we make truly informed judgements about where we go next.

Current Status: We are at advanced rough cut stage and are currently crowdfunding to help raise money for final post-production costs (online/grade/dub).

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