Among the Palms the Bomb, Or: Looking for Reflections in the Toxic Field of Plenty

Lukas Marxt and co-director Vanja Smiljanić return to the American West, expanding on themes previously seen in Marxt’s short films VALLEY PRIDE and LOADING PIT. They begin their journey at the Air Force Base in Wendover, Utah, the origin of the flights that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan. The space is now a private airfield and home to a small museum detailing the US mission that ended World War II. From there, we move over to California’s Central Valley, whose thriving agriculture is contrasted with the Salton Sea, a body of water that is being gradually choked to death by radioactivity and pollution. Recalling works by Harun Farocki and James Benning, AMONG THE PALMS THE BOMB examines how the events of the 20th century have left an indelible mark on the landscape. Marxt and Smiljanić introduce us to conservative Americans for whom the “success” of the Manhattan Project instills pride and nostalgia. This is set against the views of environmentalists and members of local Indigenous tribes who are struggling to repair what has been broken. In the middle of it all are thousands of undocumented farm workers who sustain the very society that exploits them. (Michael Sicinski)