''Time Bombs'' is a 2008 Canadian film directed by
Guylaine Maroist and
Éric Ruel. It was produced by "
Productions de la ruelle".
Plot
In the spring of 1957, 40 young
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
soldiers were sent to
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
on a top secret mission. These young men did not know they would be used as
guinea pig
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus '' Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ...
s in the most important
nuclear testing
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, Nuclear weapon yield, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detona ...
program of the
Cold War. The American military wanted to know how the average soldier would hold up on a nuclear battlefield.
With absolutely no knowledge of the effects of
radiation
In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes:
* ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, vi ...
, the young men played
war games, sometimes less than away from exploding
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s — bombs as much as four times more powerful than the
bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The effects were devastating. Many of the men fell gravely ill, and some of their children were born with deformities or handicaps.
The controversial operation has never received official recognition from the Canadian government. 50 years after the tests, ''Time Bombs'' follows the
Atomic Veterans in their quest for recognition from the government.
Technical information
* Production: Les Productions de la ruelle inc.
* Producers: Guylaine Maroist and Éric Ruel
* Directors: Guylaine Maroist and Éric Ruel
* Original idea: Pierre Brisson et
Véronique Morin
* Voice over:
Vlasta Vrana and
Réal Bossé
* Director of photography: Steeve Desrosiers, Douglas Munro, c.s.c. and Jean-François Perreault
* Visual mixing: Éric Ruel
* Sound editing: Louis Dupire and Eric Ruel
* Sound mixing: Jean-Paul Vialard, ONF
* Scenario: Guylaine Maroist
* Research: Pierre Brisson, Guylaine Maroist and
Véronique Morin
* Visual research: Ginette Beauchemin and Éric Ruel
« productionsdelaruelle.com »
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Awards
* 2008 won the golden ribbon award for ''best documentary'' from the Canadian Association of Broadcasters
* 2008 won the grand jury prize for ''best documentary'' at the New York International Independent Film Festival
See also
* Operation Plumbbob
Operation Plumbbob was a series of nuclear tests that were conducted between May 28 and October 7, 1957, at the Nevada Test Site, following '' Project 57'', and preceding '' Project 58/58A''.
Background
The operation consisted of 29 explosio ...
References
External links
Official website
Productions de la ruelle website
Canadian documentary films
Cold War military history of Canada
Documentary films about nuclear war and weapons
Quebec films
Documentary films about veterans
2000s English-language films
2000s Canadian films
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