Atomic Reaction
Preceded by
The Canadian DreaM
Thursday October 24, 7:30pm
Centennial Building, Whitby
This programme will be followed by a Q&A with The Canadian Dream director Isle Moreno, and Atomic Reaction director Michèle Hozer and the film's producers, David Hatch and Bernie Finkelstein.
Atomic Reaction
2023 | Canada | 90 Minutes | English
Director: Michèle Hozer
Producers: David Hatch | Bernie Finkelstein
Writer: David Hatch
Atomic Reaction is a compelling documentary that delves into Canada's clandestine involvement in the Manhattan Project and its role in the creation of the world’s first weapons of mass destruction. Hot on the heels of last year’s Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer, this timely investigation of Canada’s complicity traces the connection from Gilbert LaBine’s 1930 discovery of a rare radium deposit in the Northwest Territories to today’s ongoing 2.6 billion dollar nuclear waste clean-up project in Port Hope, Ontario. Atomic Reaction features fascinating expert interviews, first hand testimonies, and generational accounts to present a nuanced and thought-provoking examination of how these hidden histories have impacted the Indigenous Dene people of the Northwest Territories, Port Hope residents, and other communities worldwide.
Trailer
About the Director
Michèle Hozer, a two-time Gemini award-winning documentary editor, has been working in the Canadian film industry since 1987. She started her career at The National Film Board of Canada, working first in production, and then as an editor. She received her first Gemini in 2000 for The Nature of Things on their millennium special Race for the Future. In August 2001, Hozer established The Cutting Factory, ensuring the best possible editing environment within the audio post facility of Kitchen Sync. She has cut over 50 documentaries, including award-winning series such as The Baby Human, The Undefended Border, and China Rises, arts documentaries like Can’t Stop Now with Karen Kain and Jiri Kilean, and social issue films such as Tsepong: A Clinic called Hope. She has worked with Peter Raymont for 8 years, winning her second Gemini for editing the critically-acclaimed feature length documentary Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire. Other recent credits include Triage: The Dilemma of Dr. James Orbinski, a Sundance world premiere, and A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman, which had its world premiere at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, was shortlisted for an Oscar, and received two Gemini awards, including Best Social Political Documentary.
The Canadian Dream
Preceding Short
2024 | Canada | 9 Minutes | Spanish (English Subtitles)
Director: Ilse Morneo
A migrant farmer's quest for a better life in Canada unfolds through his own words and from his daughter's perspective in this poignant family portrait. The film exposes the harsh exploitation and dismal working conditions Ontario's migrant farm workers endure, while at the same time celebrating the resilience of the human spirit as it is manifested in one man's battle for justice.