By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
SALA Event Center is hosting the world premiere of award-winning documentarian Larry Sheffield’s newest film, “Oppenheimer After Trinity”.
The documentary will be shown at 7:15 p.m. April 22, which is J. Robert Oppenheimer’s birthday, and again at 3 p.m. April 23. Sheffield will attend the screenings.
A special screening for SALA members will be held 5-8 p.m. April 22.
Tickets cost $12 and can be purchased at https://sala.losalamos.com. The first screening on April 22 has sold out.
During a virtual press conference April 11, Sheffield explained “Oppenheimer After Trinity” is part of a trilogy he is working on. The first installment is titled, “Alamogordo, Center of the World, Trinity 1945”. He said the 30-minute documentary details what occurred in Southern New Mexico in 1945-1950. The plan was to showcase the film at Alamogordo’s 75th anniversary but COVID derailed those plans. Still, Sheffield earned four film festival awards for the documentary.
“Oppenheimer After Trinity” is the second installment. The new film has also won several international awards at various film festivals. One of the honors awarded is a winner in the “Best Historical Documentary” category at the Cannes World Film Festival.
“The second film in the trilogy is ‘Oppenheimer After Trinity,’” Sheffield said. “We kind of lead the audience up to the explosion and now let’s talk about what happened before, during and after the explosion especially from the perspective of Dr. Oppenheimer. We really try to get into the mind of Dr. Oppenheimer.”
To achieve that, Sheffield said a lot of research – three years’ worth – was conducted and thousands of hours of historical footage was watched.
Much of the footage shown in the documentary is rare film and audio clips of Oppenheimer himself.
It was important, he explained to connect all the dots and tell the story not only in chronological order but in Oppenheimer’s own words.
“… when you can find their own words and they are telling the story, it really just resonates and it kind of connects all the dots,” Sheffield said.
1945 was quite a year, he added. Germany fell, Americans were trying to figure out what the Germans had, technology wise, the Potsdam Conference was held, and 75,000 Americans were involved in the Manhattan Project work leading up to the test in the New Mexican desert.
Sheffield also noted that the very arguments and issues being addressed in 1945 are still being addressed today. The world is still grappling with nuclear weapons and the consequences of creating something that has a profound effect and how that creation should be managed moving forward. Sheffield said it was nuclear weapons in 1945 and today one of the newest creations being hotly debated is Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.
“We want to have a story that really captures the audience and brings you in and gives you a wonderful story to walk away from,” Sheffield said.
One of the highlights is an interview the documentary features with Oppenheimer’s grandson, Charles.
“It’s a really profound set of words that he states in this film,” Sheffield said. “It is very moving for anybody that watches this film to watch that footage. I think that is going to be very compelling.”
Sheffield has his own personal tie to this story. He explained he is a native New Mexican. He was born and raised in Alamogordo. His grandfather on his mother’s side, actually worked on the Manhattan Project. In fact, Sheffield said he discovered his grandfather worked at all three laboratory sites that were involved on the project: Hanford National Laboratory in Washington state, Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. While Sheffield said what his grandfather did remains a mystery, he figures his grandfather was a contractor.
SALA Event Center Owner Allen Saenz said during the press conference that he is excited to host the premiere of Sheffield’s newest film because it will help kick off the events planned in preparation for the release of the new feature movie, “Oppenheimer”. Sheffield will be in attendance and will speak with the audiences in conjunction with the screenings.
A lot of visitors are expected to come to town because of the new movie, Saenz said. He further pointed out that since the movie’s message and how it will deliver that message is not known, the documentary is important because it provides accurate information, which can be presented to visitors.
The screenings will also benefit Los Alamos because their proceeds will go toward several nonprofits including the Los Alamos Historical Society, the J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee and the Oppenheimer Project.
Several history focused non-profits will be on-hand in the SALA lobby before and after the screenings to talk with the public and tell people about their work.
Saenz added that New Mexico Real Estate Group will sponsor the Manhattan Project Film Series in July. Proceeds from this series also will benefit several non-profit organizations including the Los Alamos Historical Society, the J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee, the Friends of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park and the Bradbury Science Museum Association.
