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In My lifetime

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Catalogue Number:  TVP031
Producer:  Video Project, Inc.
Producing Agencies:  Whistling Communications LLC
Subject:  Documentary, History, Science, World History
Language:  English
Grade Level:  9 - 12, Post Secondary
Country Of Origin:  United States
Copyright Year:  2011
Running Time:  109:00


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In one lifetime a nuclear-armed world emerged, and with it the potential for global destruction on a scale never before possible.

Directed by former ABC network news producer, Robert Frye, In My Lifetime provides a comprehensive look at the full scope and impact of the nuclear age from its beginnings to the present day, including the international efforts by citizens, scientists and political leaders to reduce or eliminate the nuclear threat.

Through archival footage and contemporary interviews, In My Lifetime portrays the history of the nuclear era and the complex search for "a way beyond". Filmed in Europe, Japan and the U.S., the movie features international voices from many perspectives and different parts of the history.

Manhattan Project scientists, former military personnel, and survivors of the first atomic bombs remind us how the nuclear age began -- and what we seek to avoid from happening ever again. Central participants and historians recount the major developments that followed: the U.S. – Soviet Cold War, above-ground nuclear testing, the Cuban missile crisis, the historic summits between Reagan and Gorbachev, the spread of nuclear weapons, and nonproliferation efforts.

Through this history, the film attempts to uncover the forces that brought us to the present number of nuclear-armed countries, and the obstacles – both political and human – that have blocked the world from reaching the solution all ultimately desire. An inside view of the debates at a recent UN Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference is especially revealing, clearly showing how difficult it is for the world to move beyond the nuclear status quo.

In My Lifetime challenges viewers to learn from this history and find a way to accomplish what might seem like the impossible, because it is an absolute necessity.

HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY FIGURES IN THE FILM
The film includes archival footage of major historical figures, including: Leo Szilard, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Dwight Eisenhower, John F Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Madeline Albright, Richard Perle, George Shultz, Ban Ki Moon and Barack Obama.

Among the new, contemporary interviews are (partial list):

Sergio Duarte, High Representative for Disarmament, United Nations Secretariat
Jayantha Dhanapala, UN Under Secretary General, Department of Disarmament (1998-2003)
Mohammed ElBaradei, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), 1997-2009,Nobel Peace Prize, 2005
Vigdis Finnbogadottir, President of Iceland 1980 – 1996
Siegfried Hecker, Director, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1986-1997
Joseph Masco, University of Chicago, Author, Nuclear Borderlands
Shuntaro Hida, M.D., Hiroshima Survivor
William Potter, Director, James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies, The Monterey Institute of International Studies
Ellen Wilder Bradbury Reid, Manhattan Project Historian
Richard Rhodes, Author, Pulitzer Prize Winner, The Twilight of The Bombs
Hugh Gusterson, Author, Nuclear Rites
Ola Dahlman, Nuclear Arms Control Negotiator
Rebecca Johnson, Executive Director, The Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy
Kennette Benedict, Publisher, The Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists

"Highly recommended. With the end of the Cold War, the dread of global nuclear war and atomic Armageddon seems to have receded. Filmmaker Robert E. Frye (a former ABC News executive) aims to restore a sense of danger and urgency in this insightful documentary....A potent reminder of our technological rather than environmental capacity for self-destruction." – Video Librarian

"Highly Recommended. People often say we live in the 'nuclear age,' but what that means is never entirely clear. This documentary captures that era – from its beginnings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the present. The film contains excellent footage and photographs as well as excerpts from U.S. Department of Defense clips." - Educational Media Reviews Online


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