“Atomic Cover-up”: Watch Free Until February 15th
Details below.
The Barrymore Film Festival is streaming the 2021 film that I wrote and directed through this Tuesday, free. It’s the “short” (29 minutes) version of the “feature” (52 minutes) film but just as powerful, I believe. You will find it third from the top here. This is the 16th festival for the film in recent months. If you watch, please push the button for the Audience Award, thanks. The film explores the suppression for decades of the most important and shocking footage shot in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by an elite U.S. military team and a Japanese newsreel crew. Trailer here.
And watch the trailer for my new film — on Upton Sinclair’s race for governor of California leading a massive grassroots movement, which sparked the first “attack ads,” the birth of modern campaigning and Hollywood’s first all-out plunge into politics — which is just going out to festivals now.
“What a great film and original concept. An absolutely crucial way to understanding all wars. Don’t be surprised if this documentary is a player at next year’s Oscars.” — Rod Lurie, director of The Outpost, The Contender, others.
“Very powerful. Incredible unseen footage restored and the tale of the filmmakers who photographed the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” — Alex Gibney, Academy Award-winning director of Enron, Taxi to the Dark Side, Going Clear and others.
“A film worth the watch — and I hope many see it.” — David Folkenflik, National Public Radio
“We’ve been mightily distracted by COVID, but here’s a much-needed reminder of the gravest existential threat known to mankind, and the men who fought to bring it vividly to light.” — Erik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile and other non-fiction bestsellers
“Utterly haunting. You’ll never forget the opening scene: Japanese survivors singing ‘Silent Night’ in the ruins of a bombed-out Nagasaki cathedral. Must watch. Please watch. You’ll be glad you watched.” — Joan Walsh, The Nation, and producer of The Sit In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show.
“Greg Mitchell has done a great service to history in uncovering some of the most remarkable — and supremely sad — video journalism of the 20th Century. More than a movie, a legitimate historical document of almost unspeakable acts of war.” — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire magazine.
“ A great doc. So moving, disturbing and important.” — Alex Winter, director of The Panama Papers, Show Biz Kids and others, co-star of Bill & Ted movies.
“Everything I’ve ever seen from Greg Mitchell has shown me something I didn’t know or given me a fresh perspective on something I thought I already understood. And this is such a compelling subject.” — Ron Brownstein, The Atlantic and CNN
“It is the visual equivalent of John Hersey’s classic 1946 New Yorker article and book Hiroshima. Everyone should see it. We have never come to terms with the horror of what was done in our name in August 1945.” — Dan Kennedy, WGBH (PBS in Boston) and Media Nation.
“When I was in college, I got my first look at a film that showed bodies being bulldozed into a large pit at Auschwitz. That imagery haunts me to this day as will what I saw just now in Atomic Coverup. It’s a devastating and necessary film, and a stark and humbling refresher course in why atomic weapons must never be used again.” — Wally Lamb, author of bestsellers I Know This Much is True, She’s Come Undone and others.
“I admire it — excellent work on an essential topic.” — David Sterritt, legendary Christian Science Monitor critic, now editor of Quarterly Review of Film & Video
“After writing three books on the topic, Mitchell finally obtained the film footage that America’s leaders didn’t want you to see. It demands to be seen.” — Will Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer
“I consider Atomic Cover-Up to be essential viewing. If I had my way, I would add it to the civics curriculum for all high school seniors in the country.” — Scott Horton, contributing editor, Harper’s magazine, author of Lords of Secrecy
“An important story, and compelling new angle, well told. A ‘must-see’ documentary for anyone who cares about peace — and how wars will be fought in the future.” — Glenn Silber, director of Oscar nominees The War at Home and El Salvador
More responses below.
If this interests you, contact me at gregmitch34@gmail.com. Suzanne Mitchell (no relation) co-produced the film. Also, it was featured in a half-hour “Reel America” special on C-SPAN. I’ve written three books on this subject, including Atomic Cover-up and The Beginning or the End (on MGM’s wild atomic drama).
“An important work, one that’s essential education for a generation with less and less familiarity with the horror of nuclear weapons. A major contribution to our collective memory.” — Daniel M. Gold, New York Times film reviewer, 2009–2017
“You’ve been a real warrior on this issue.” — Oliver Stone
“That scene in the cathedral….” — Rosanne Cash, singer-songwriter and award-winning author.
“Well done!” — Mark Gordon, producer, Saving Private Ryan, Midway, among many others
“My dad was among the first Americans into Nagasaki after the A-bomb. He told us squat. After watching Atomic Cover-Up, I understand why Dad wouldn’t tell us kids. Thanks, Greg Mitchell.” — David Beard, executive editor, National Geographic
“One of 2021’s most important films….A devastating gut punch. It is a film of quiet and devastating power that will bend the knees of even those who think they know everything about the bombings.” — Steve Kopian, Unseen Films
“Amazing color footage on the human costs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki…should be viewed in every high school and college history classroom.” — Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus, The Chairman, and other books.
“This documentary was literally four decades in the making. Check it out!” — David Corn, Mother Jones, author of several bestselling books.
“The understatement of the film’s style lets the horror of the long-suppressed images do all the work. It is stunningly powerful.” — Harry Shearer, actor, “Le Show” host
“Hearing so much good buzz about this one. Greg Mitchell may have a hit on his hands.” — Van Jones, CNN
“A very interesting film with a very important message, and the images are really horrifying.” –Patrick Vollrath, Academy Award-nominated director of 7500.
“A compelling new doc.” — Stephen Schwartz of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
“Arresting and fascinating — horrifying all over again.” –Nicholson Baker, award-winning author of Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, and other books.
“Chilling.” — Sharon Grimberg, director of McCarthy and producer of dozens of other films for PBS’s American Experience
