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  • Mururoa 1973

Mururoa 1973

  • $30.00

Duration: 26 minutes 
Year: 1973 (Remastered in 2009) 
Aspect Ratio:
 16:9 
Rating: Exempt 
Director:
 Alistair Barry 

In 1969 testing began above Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific. Nations affected by the radioactive fallout objected. From 1972 peace activists were sailing to the forbidden testing zone hoping to disrupt the tests, and in 1973 a small protest fleet left New Zealand led by the yacht ‘Fri’.
This is the documentary of Fri’s protest voyage as it happened and narrated by her crew. For thirteen weeks Fri sailed in the test zone focussing international media interest on the testing through ham radio transmissions. Eventually, boarded and arrested in international waters by French marines, the vessel was towed and anchored in the lagoon of Mururoa itself.
The crew were flown to house arrest on another island but the raw film of the voyage and boarding remained hidden in the cargo hold while two of France’s last atmospheric tests were exploded at the other end of the atoll.

Black and white.
Made with the assistance of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council
Remastered by Abi King-Jones and the Community Media Trust in 2009.