Ever since Manhattan Project director J. Robert Oppenheimer captured the horror of the mushroom cloud as “the destroyer of worlds,” nuclear weapons have stoked fear, awe, and greed everywhere. The U.S. and the Soviet Union assembled massive nuclear arsenals poised to launch at the push of a button. Countries around the world clamored for uranium and the technology to transform it into deadly weaponry. But since the Cold War ended, the delicate balance the two superpowers preserved — and the disarmament process they began — has largely collapsed, leaving the world with nine nuclear powers and arsenals vulnerable to terrorism, failed diplomacy, or simple accident. Featuring dozens of interviews, including with statesmen like Mikhail Gorbachev and Pervez Musharraf, director Lucy Walker and producer Lawrence Bender’s “Countdown to Zero” traces the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to today’s disarmament efforts. Zócalo and KCRW present the Los Angeles premiere of “Countdown to Zero”, a powerful documentary that makes the case for eliminating nuclear weapons around the world.

 

 

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