Canadian filmmaker Alain Vézina from Quebec received the Best Documentary Feature Film Award for his new film “The Atomic Screen”at the 15th International Uranium Film Festival of Rio de Janeiro 2026. The award ceremony took place on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at the Cinematheque of the renowned Museum of Modern Art (MAM Rio). From from May 21st to 30th, 2026, the 15th International Uranium Film Festival of Rio screened 31 „atomic“ films from 18 countries addressing all nuclear issues.
JURY STATEMENT
“The Atomic Screen is an excellent retrospective of films, mainly from Hollywood, on the nuclear theme. And as always in American cinema, they aim to glorify the actions of the USA, or to mask the truth. For years, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were described as having caused only enormous material damage; the perverse effects on the Japanese population were hidden, and documentaries about them were censored. But soon the Soviet Union also mastered the atom. With the Cuban Missile Crisis, cinema becomes “educational,” teaching how to protect oneself from nuclear attacks. This is the “Duck and Cover” phase. Then comes the “Atom for Peace” wave, extolling the positive effects of radioactivity on health and economic growth through the production of nuclear energy. In Las Vegas, atomic tourism emerges, with programs of stays during which visitors can observe the rise of atomic mushroom clouds resulting from nuclear tests. Later, to support the US-USSR (Reagan-Brezhnev) rapprochement, madmen threaten to destroy both nations by detonating warheads on both powers. Radioactivity is once again presented as a danger, even nearly destroying humanity. Earth is portrayed as dominated by apes. The film concludes that the greatest danger still lies in the fact that few people have the power to decide on the use or non-use of nuclear weapons of total destruction. Would it then be better to entrust this task to computers? However, are computers always reliable? The documentary research of „The Atomic Screen“ was done with great care. An entertaining and enlightening film, worth to get the Best Documentary Feature Film Award of the 15th International Uranium Film Festival.
Alphonse Kelecom, Professor for Radiobiology and Radiometry at the Laboratory of the Institute of Biology, Fluminense Federal University Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, member of the Uranium Film Festival Jury.
AWARD ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
For me the International Uranium Film Festival is one of the most important film festivals in the world, because it raises public awareness about the dangers of nuclear power. It is a festival that strives to change things for a safer world. Therefore I am deeply touched and honored by the Award given to me by the festival. For my team and myself this is the most significant recognition of our work. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the jury and everyone involved in the Uranium Film Festival.”
Alain Vézina, The Atomic Screen
The Atomic Screen
Canada, 2025, Director Alain Vézina, Producer Alain Vézina and Marc Plana, Documentary, English with Portuguese subtitles, 52 min. Synopsis: If the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed that a single A-bomb could cause widespread devastation, the invention of thermonuclear weapons a few years later made it plausible that humanity would be wiped off the face of the planet. From the early 1950s to the present day, a whole series of films have revealed this anxiety.
Alain Vézina
Alain Vézina was born in 1970 in Quebec. Very young, he was already passionate about fantasy films. He started studying film in college in 1987 and continued his studies at Concordia University and Université de Montréal. He was a film critic for Séquences magazine for nearly ten years. In 1999, he wrote and directed his first film, a successful feature documentary on the sinking of the Empress of Ireland. In the wake of that film’s success Vézina wrote and directed „The Sinking of the Princess Sophia“ in 2002. He also directed „The Final Mission: The Story of the U-190“ in 2006, „Dans le sillage du Titanic: l’histoire du CGS Montmagny“ in 2011 and in 2018 the documentary “The Sisters of Nagasaki“ that received a Special Recognition at the International Uranium Film Festival in Rio 2019.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
For 15 years the International Uranium Film Festival (IUFF) raises awareness about the risks of atomic power and promotes nuclear disarmament with independent films and panels of experts around the globe. In October 2024, Hollywood’s MovieMaker Magazine named it one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World 2024”. And in 2025, the festival’s founders, Márcia Gomes de Oliveira and Norbert Suchanek, received the prestigious “Nuclear-Free Future Award” in New York City in the category education. The Uranium Film Festival especially in Rio focuses very much on the young generation.
“You’ve never seen two people get more done than the life and project-partner duo Márcia Gomes de Oliveira and Norbert G. Suchanek, who run the International Uranium Film Festival in deep collaboration with activists around the world. The festival has its grand event in Rio, but also does an extensive U.S. tour in regions impacted by uranium-related industry. Inevitably, folks wonder whether there are enough films on the subject to warrant a festival. The answer is yes. This, of course, is because the issue is expansive, impacting all 50 U.S. states and many more corners of the world than most folks realize. From the Navajo Nation to Las Vegas to Chicago and many places between, this spirited DIY art, advocacy, and activism project brings folks together in a space of support, education, shared outrage, and a good time. The Uranium Film Festival is a refreshing example of what activism and advocacy can be: inclusive, expansive, and celebratory.“ Hadley Austin, MovieMaker Magazine
