Our Planet, The People, My Blood

An informative and worrying documentary about global Nuclear Weapons Testing, written and directed by Daniel Everitt-Lock. This feature is currently set for release in selected cinemas in the UK from the 12th of March.

This film deals with a very serious subject. Through archival footage, photographs and interviews, this documentary takes the viewer on a dramatic journey, exploring the world of nuclear testing, how it affects the environment and people and the disclosures are shocking. The contents reveal the terrible effects radiation can cause to the human body and how the detonation of such bombs can destroy the environemmt. Also included are the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, the Nuked Blood Scandal and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Interviewees include Alan Owen, whose father took part in the testing of nuclear explosions, Nuclear Technology Historian Bo Jacobs, several atomic veterans and Alan's wife and sister.

The feature looks into the testings of nuclear bombs that occurred in a variety of places, during different times. These include the testings at Christmas Island, at the Marshall Islands and on United States soil, such as Nevada. It is revealed that people who were involved in these operations, were affected by the radiation caused by the explosions and that those who lived at and near the testing areas were forced to leave their homes. Furthermore, the individuals who were infected by radiation ended up passing the effects to other generations and this continues to this day and so does the contamination of the environment.

Governments are also taken into account and the theory is that the safety of those involved in the experiments regarding the bomb detonations was not taken under significant consideration and neither was the damage caused to the environment. The film also acknowledges that goverments have also refused to compensate individuals infected by the detonations.

The archival footage is quite dramatic, containing plenty of images of atomic and nuclear explosions and the horrific effects it causes to the bodies of those who were unfortunate enough to be affected by it. By viewing all this, viewers learn the horrifying consequences of nuclear testing.

This feature is very thorough in pointing out the damages caused by these kind of experiments, with lives being destroyed and lost and the planet being polluted. It condemns nuclear testings and disapproves of governments being inconsiderate about people's safety and protecting the planet and of being unwilling to provide assistance to those affected by detonations.

A documentary that raises awareness of the effects the testings of nuclear bombs have on humanity and the planet. It is an intriguing and shocking viewing that deserves recognition.