Just to start briefly: So today is the big day, as my latest film, “The Atomic Bowl,” started streaming this morning over PBS.org and all PBS apps (AppleTV, Roku, Android devices, iPhone, Vizio, Amazon Fire, Google TV,Samsung Smart TV and more). It will roll out over PBS stations during the next few weeks. That’s the 30-second trailer at top but here is the link to the PBS.org page where you can watch now or via the apps. Narrated by Peter Coyote. And one more time: the companion e-book, which was covered by the Washington Post yesterday.
If you watch the film (53 minutes) or read the book, let me know in comments or in an email.
Go here for full responses to the film so far (and more). Way down at bottom page today, you’ll find a few of them. Thank you to “the team”: producer Lyn Goldfarb, editor Rob Burgos, composer John E. Low, associate producers Bill Geerhart and Barbara Bedway, researcher Tim Goldsmith, advisor Markus Nornes.
Bulletin from NY Times last night:
FEMA Didn’t Answer Thousands of Calls From Flood Survivors, Documents Show
Two days after deadly Texas floods, the agency struggled to answer calls from survivors because of call center contracts that weren’t extended.
Since it features Leon Russell, this obviously not brand new, but it was just posted yesterday so new to all of us: The Tedeschi Trucks Band with Leon and hot version of the great Box Tops’ tune, “The Letter.”
From Tunes to Toons for Today
Re: “The Atomic Bowl”
"Today’s nuclear tensions make Mitchell’s storytelling more timely than ever." -- Will Bunch, The Philadelphia Inquirer
“A master storyteller and an urgent reminder of the terrors of nuclear war.” — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire"Fascinating. Poor Nagasaki got lost because it was the second bombing." --Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize winner for “The Making of the Atomic Bomb”
"A great movie--a hidden chapter in atomic history revealed." -- Jayne Loader, co-director of "The Atomic Cafe" (now in the National Film Registry)
"Excellent work--and very moving."-- Rick Perlstein, best-selling author of “Nixonland,” “Reaganland,” and other books
"This is superb and elicits very strong emotions. And also quite timely."-- Sarah Kernochan, two-time Academy Award-winning documentary director
"The story is riveting, and really fantastic archival film-making." -- Ben Proudfoot, winner of Academy Awards for best short documentaries 2021 and 2024
“An excellent, much-needed corrective to the general lack of coverage Nagasaki. ” — Glenn Silber, director of Academy Award nominee “The War at Home”
Loved the Tedeschi Trucks Band & Leon Russell video.
We will check out the film.
Thanks for making and sharing the film.
My great-grandparents were stationed at Pearl Harbor when it was hit. I've watched as government archives of my great-grandfather's service aboard the USS Enterprise were scrubbed of anything conceivably related to DEI over the past few months. The footage you shared felt like a gift. WWII with the Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal, and more weren't fought and won by just white men from America. I was pleased to see minorities in your film who assisted.
Of course, the subject was devastating. I was unaware that Truman hadn't approved the attack on Nagasaki. Dedicating the film to the children who attended the schools you listed was powerful - excellent call.
It's a timely reminder of how we've tripped the wire to complete indifference and tolerance of inhumanity before. I worry that we're headed in the same direction now.
Again, thank you. Well done.