Synopsis
- Behind the barbed wire of the security area at Wackersdorf, Bavaria, building work for the planned plutonium reprocessing plant is in full swing. The facility will soon be ready to start reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. Meanwhile, the Bavarian Ministry for the Environment, the authority responsible for the project, announces a public meeting in Neunburg vorm Wald to discuss the final seal of approval for the plant. The 881,000 people who have submitted written protests are invited to a small hall in this remote village (population: 8,000). Seated on a raised platform are the men from the government licensing authority. To their right are the men from the company operating the plant; to their left, the men from the Board for Technical Inspection and other independent experts. Guards are on hand to protect these men from the people in the crowded hall.
This film documents the way in which this show of democracy provides cover as the last remnants of true democracy are swept away – and, with them, any remaining threat to the plans of the pro-nuclear lobby. It exposes how those in power arrogantly – and in full accordance with legislation – ignore the well-founded fears and objections of citizens and scientists. It is a historical document on nuclear reprocessing, nuclear energy, and democracy.
Crew
- Director: Claus Strigel, Bertram Verhaag
- Director of photography: Thomas Wiklke, Friedrich Klütsch, Waldemar Hauschild, Claus Strigel
- Editor (Cut): Matthias Bauer
- Production company: DENKmal-Film Verhaag GmbH
- Distributed by: DENKmal-Film Verhaag GmbH
Awards
- (1987) Förderpreis der Stadt Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- (1989) Hauptpreis Ökomedia, Freiburg, Germany
- (1989) Nominiert als deutscher Beitrag zum Europäischen Filmpreis
- (1989) Peace Film Award - Honorable Mention, International Film Festival, Berlin, Germany
Festivals
- (1989) Ökomedia, Freiburg, Germany
- (1989) International Film Festival, Berlin, Germany
