General Info | Synopsis | Principle Interviewees | Crew bios | Partial List of Credits | Media

Press kit

    

Synopsis

Atomic Mom Description 50 words or less (word count = 44)

Atomic Mom is a documentary about two women, both mothers, who have very different experiences of the atom bomb. After decades of silence, a daughter’s quest for truth leads to the exchange of an olive branch between an American Scientist and a Hiroshima Survivor.

Atomic Mom Description 100 words or less (word count = 100)

Atomic Mom is a documentary about two women, both mothers, who have very different experiences of the atom bomb. One is my mother, who was a Navy biologist in the early 1950's and was sent to the Nevada Test Site where she was exposed to five detonations. After decades of silence, she is in a crisis of conscience about the work she did. The other woman is a Hiroshima survivor who was eight years old when the bomb was dropped. Knowing the work that my mother did, she offers her an olive branch with a beautifully potent message of peace.

Atomic Mom Description 200 words or less (word count = 193)

Atomic Mom is a documentary about two women, both mothers, who have very different experiences of the atom bomb. One is my mother, Pauline Silvia, who was a biologist in the Navy in the early 1950's and was sent to the Nevada Test Site where she witnessed five detonations with little or no protection. At 23 years old, she was one of the few women scientists on an elite team of researchers. After decades of silence, Pauline is in a crisis of conscience about the work she did, work that involved animal testing. She reveals some of the grim and dark secrets of the U.S. atomic testing program. The other woman, Emiko Okada, is a Hiroshima survivor who was eight years old when the bomb was dropped. Her twelve year old sister was never found. After many years of silence, Ms. Okada gives testimony of her experience as a peace activist committed to education and disarmament. Knowing the work that my mother did, she folded origami peace cranes for me to give to my mother as a gift. This exchange is more than an olive branch with a beautifully potent message of peace.