'Oppenheimer After Trinity' documentary to screen at Mesilla's Fountain Theatre

Leah Romero, Las Cruces Sun-News
·1 min read
Movie poster for documentary, "Oppenheimer after Trinity."
Movie poster for documentary, "Oppenheimer after Trinity."
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MESILLA – The Mesilla Valley Film Society will host three special screenings of the documentary, “Oppenheimer After Trinity,” which looks at the events that followed the testing of the first atomic bomb in Alamogordo in 1945.

“The documentary offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the mind of Dr. J Robert Oppenheimer, and the moments leading up to and following the first atomic bomb test in the New Mexico desert. The film features rare footage and photographs, along with compelling testimony from Dr. Oppenheimer’s grandson, Charles Oppenheimer,” according to a news release.

The documentary will screen at 7:30 p.m. May 7-9 at the Fountain Theatre, located at 2469 Calle De Guadalupe, Mesilla. Larry L. Sheffield, executive producer, will be on hand Sunday and Monday for a question-and-answer session with the audience.

Sheffield is known for producing the films “Unfavorable Odds” and “Alamogordo, Center of the World, Trinity 1945.” He was born in Alamogordo and his grandfather worked at Los Alamos, where the Manhattan Project was researched.

“Oppenheimer After Trinity” uses historic recordings and writings of Oppenheimer’s, declassified military documents and other interviews to recount the impact the bomb’s detonation had on the researchers involved in its creation. It “tells a deeply personal story and sheds light on the magnitude of what it means to hold the weight of the world on one’s shoulders.”

Sheffield’s latest documentary has won 10 awards on the film festival circuit. According to a news release, he is currently producing several new documentary films about the Manhattan Project, the Trinity Test, Operation Paperclip and other military events that occurred between 1945 and 1950.

Tickets for the screenings can be purchased online beforehand at mesillavalleyfilm.org.

Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: 'Oppenheimer After Trinity' documentary to screen at Mesilla's Fountain Theatre