Trickle down effect: Documentary film focuses on lasting consequences of the Trinity Test in NM

A new documentary delves into what the blockbuster film “Oppenheimer” left out.

The film “First We Bombed New Mexico” by Lois Lipman recognizes the 79th anniversary of the Trinity Test in New Mexico. It’s being shown in conjunction with the museum’s current exhibition, “Nuclear Communities of the Southwest.”

Screenings of the film will be at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday — the anniversary of the detonation — in the Ventana Salon of the Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain NW. Admission is free, but tickets should be reserved at cabq.gov/artsculture/albuquerque-museum/events.

Lipman’s film was fueled by the anger of activist and cancer survivor Tina Cordova. It tells the story of the Trinity Test, the world’s first nuclear bomb that was secretly detonated near White Sands a month prior to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, which ended World War II.

With no prior warning, residents who lived in the area around the detonation suffered from the nuclear fallout and exposure, according to the news release. The water and land were poisoned and multigenerational cancers continue to this day, the release said.

“(It is a story of) environmental racism and a prevailing attitude towards people of color who were once considered ‘unsophisticated, uneducated, and unable to speak up for themselves,’” Lipman said in a statement.

The film documents the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which ended earlier this year.

“I am making this film to witness the people’s narrative for voices not yet heard,” Lipman said. “We must not let the U.S. government’s scientific achievements and military might be the only picture in the history of Trinity.”

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has endorsed the documentary film.

“This film highlights a story wholly unknown to the vast majority of Americans — or the world, for that matter — yet one the aftermath of which haunts us today,” she said in a statement.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement that the film immortalizes a tragic moment in history.

“By hearing these stories, we honor our complex past and recognize truths that should never be forgotten,” he said. “The Albuquerque Museum continues to fulfill its mission of giving us these special opportunities to learn and be inspired.”

Lipman, who is responsible for the film about the Tularosa Basin Downwinders, is an Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker who has field-produced 24 stories around the world for the CBS news show “60 Minutes.” Her expose “Til Death Do Us Part — Dowry Deaths in India” was awarded Best Documentary by American Women in Film and Television. She also produced a Peabody Award-winning film about Arthur Mitchell and Dance Theatre Harlem for “60 Minutes.”