Atomic City

Showing In

The Quiet Zone
Roxie Theatre Sat, Jun 9, 2018 5:00 PM
In a remote mountainous region of West Virginia a community of electro-sensitives lives in the shadow of a massive radio telescope and struggle to heal themselves while reflecting the growing concerns regarding the permeation of communications technology.
The Quiet Zone
Roxie Theatre Tue, Jun 12, 2018 7:15 PM
In a remote mountainous region of West Virginia a community of electro-sensitives lives in the shadow of a massive radio telescope and struggle to heal themselves while reflecting the growing concerns regarding the permeation of communications technology.
Film Info
Director:David McMurry
Running Time:27 min.
Country:USA
Year of Release:2018

Description

Atomic City is a meditation on the town of Arco, Idaho. A place that could otherwise be considered pedestrian among the gritty settlements and sagebrush plains of the West, Arco lays claim to the fact it was the first city in the world lit with atomic power. On July 17, 1955 an experimental reactor lit the town’s lights for just over an hour in the middle of the night. This moment in time is marked each year through the town’s biggest celebration which includes a ping pong ball drop, parade down main street, and an all-class reunion. At one time Arco seemed to be on the glowing edge of a future filled with clean energy, jobs and unlimited growth. This version of the future never panned out. Arco’s nuclear heritage has been overshadowed with the collective impressions generated by the perils of Three-Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. Nearly 60 years later, Arco remains a town of just under 1000 residents, struggling to establish it’s identity and resist fading into the backdrop of the American West. Atomic City weaves together ethereal portraits with astrological and classical archetypes to create a melancholy collage of a forgotton town on the edge of the atomic frontier.