(2022, USA, UK, 101')
United States, 1944. World War II has been going on for five years, and the American and British feel pressed to fund research and development the next big thing in war effort. This is how the Manhattan Project came about, a projected intended at delivering the first nuclear bomb. The experiment is risky, and must be guarded from enemy eyes. No one could imagine how the first human threat comes from within. Theodore Hall is the youngest physicist in the programme and the protagonist of the documentary. A young man little discussed in history books, though one that changed history. Hall bravely kept true to his principles, certain as he was that the monopoly of nuclear bomb technology would have meant the end of human life on earth. The only way out was to inform the Soviets of the A-bomb. Hero or conspirator?
Born in Hampton, Virginia, in 1955, Steve James is a screenwriter, director, editor, and producer. In his filmography are short movies, documentaries, TV series episodes. Two titles catch the eye: Hoop Dreams (1994), and Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016). Both earned James an Oscar nomination, for best editing and best documentary, respectively.
