Sierra Club Nuclear Free Film Series

SOS – The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power's Legacy

Expired June 11, 2024 5:00 AM
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[Note: Your viewing window ends at end of the virtual screening -- June 10, 2024, 11:59 p.m. EDT (UTC -0400) -- regardless of when you get a ticket or begin viewing.]

Filmed over 12 years, SOS - The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power's Legacy dramatically chronicles how Southern California residents came together to force the shutdown of an aging nuclear power plant only to be confronted by an alarming reality: tons of nuclear waste left near a popular beach, only 100 feet from the rising sea, that — with radioactivity lasting millions of years — menaces present and future generations.  


The film portrays San Onofre as a microcosm of this national problem — the mismanagement of lethal radioactive waste over millennia.


It's a syndrome shared by all 55 nuclear reactor sites across the United States.  


SOS spotlights the essential role citizens must play to ensure public safety is the top priority. Told largely through the eyes of five main characters, we witness how they mobilize their communities and become both experts on the issues and tactically wiser in the face of adversity.


SOS - The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power's Legacy is a critical warning that America's nuclear 55 power plants, each with their own tons of intensely radioactive waste in inadequate temporary containers are putting their local communities and national security at grave risk.


We had a follow-up SOS Webinar Discussion Panel with two of the filmmakers and a panel of experts, Jun 10, 2024, 08:00 PM EDT / 5:00 PM PDT (US and Canada). Listen to a recording of this webinar.


Speakers include: Mary Beth Brangan & James Heddle, two of the films three Directors; Gordon Edwards and Donna Gilmore, who are nuclear experts featured in the film; and Diane D'Arrigo of NIRS (Nuclear Information Resource Service). Cindy Folkers (Beyond Nuclear) will moderate.


SOS is an urgent call to action. Will viewers rally to embrace this lifeline in time?  


Directed by James Heddle, Mary Beth Brangan, and Morgan Peterson and produced by Mary Beth Brangan, the film is a production of EON—The Ecological Options Network. It features nuclear experts Donna Gilmore, Dan Hirsch, Gordon Edwards, activists Karen Hadden, Rose Gardner, Torgen Johnson, Gary and Laurie Headrick, and key whistleblowers.

  • Year
    2023
  • Runtime
    97 minutes
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    United States
  • Premiere
    Awareness Film Festival
  • Genre
    Documentary
  • Subtitle Language
    English
  • Awards
    Docs without Borders award to the following. AWARDS Awareness Film Festival, Los Angeles, Grand Jury Award for Documentary Feature; International Uranium Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Best Educational Documentary
  • Social Media
  • Director
    James Heddle, Mary Beth Brangan and Morgan Peterson
  • Producer
    Mary Beth Brangan
  • Filmmaker
    James Heddle, Mary Beth Brangan, Morgan Peterson
  • Cast
    Donna Gilmore, Dan Hirsch, Gordon Edwards, Karen Hadden, Rose Gardner, Torgen Johnson, Gary and Laurie Headrick and others
  • Cinematographer
    James Heddle, Mary Beth Brangan, Laurent Malaqais, Morgan Peterson, Matt Mataya, Rich Van Every
  • Editor
    Morgan Peterson
  • Animator
    TheBureau.tv
  • Composer
    Christopher Hedge
  • Sound Design
    Christopher Hedge
  • Music
    "San Onofre Blues" by Josh Weigel and The Well Shift