Bombshell: Screening and Discussion
They created the bomb. Then they created its story.
Eighty years after two devastating strikes usher the world into the nuclear age, BOMBSHELL explores how the U.S. government creates a false narrative about the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Through propaganda, censorship, and by co-opting the press, the government presents a benevolent picture of atomic power, minimizing the horrific human toll of the bombings.
But not every journalist toes the official line. BOMBSHELL sheds light on the efforts of a handful of intrepid reporters –among them a Black pool reporter, a Japanese American staffer for the United Press, a Japanese photographer and a magazine freelancer – as they attempt to pierce the official narrative and inform the world about the human cost of nuclear weapons. Their long-overlooked perspective underscores the essential role of journalists in crafting the story of the atomic bomb, as well as what is lost when independent reporting is suppressed and “truth” bends to the will of those in power.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Ben Loeterman, Director, Producer, and Writer; Gaia De Simoni, Producer; and Ann Curry, Narrator, and moderated by Robe Imbriano, Director, Documentary Journalism Program.
This event is co-sponsored by the Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism, Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security, and the Documentary Specialization at Columbia University, and American Experience.
September 29, 2026, 6pm - 8:30pm.
Seats are limited. Registration required here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bombshell-screening-and-discussion-tickets-2001613616208?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true.
Food will be served.
Columbia Journalism School
Pulitzer Hall, Lecture Hall, 3rd Floor
2950 Broadway
New York, NY 10027