First We Bombed New Mexico

Cancer survivor and activist Tina Cordova wants justice for the “Downwinders,” the mostly Hispanic and Native American people who are still suffering devastating health consequences of that fateful 1945 bomb test in the New Mexican desert. But is the United States willing to provide compensation, or will they bury the truth?The site of Trinity, where the first nuclear bomb was detonated, remains a fascinating and much scrutinized national landmark. But standing in the shadow of the legacy of American innovators like J. Robert Oppenheimer, are communities and generations of people (mostly Hispanic and Indigenous) forced to deal with the biological after-effects. FIRST WE BOMBED NEW MEXICO explores the impact of exposure to plutonium on those who lived nearby and weren’t notified of the danger, and the grassroots advocacy and activism happening in the current day for restitution. Facing decades of health issues caused by living downwind from the bomb and mounting evidence of the government’s indifference to the residents’ safety, the film follows the battle to raise awareness of the country’s missteps in handling its nuclear program. —C.F.GUEST(S) IN ATTENDANCE