Alyssa Loh, Writer 

Sloan Grant(s) Received: 2023, TIFF, Sloan Project Pitch Participant

Project Type: Feature 

Genre: Historical Drama

Length: 120 pages 

Field of Science: Physics

Stage: Development 

Synopsis: 

In 1958, the U.S. government came up with a plan to detonate five thermonuclear bombs in a stretch of land in Alaska. The purpose? To create an instant deep-water harbor on the Alaskan coastline. This is PROJECT CHARIOT — part of a 1950s experimental program by the U.S. government to repurpose nuclear weapons. Or rather — to “redeem” nuclear weapons — by using atomic bombs for peaceful, economic ends. Or so they say.

Meanwhile, at Dartmouth, a young American geographer named DON FOOTE is trying to finish his PhD. Don’s a Hispanic kid from rural America. And he’s just about had it with his Ivy League classmates. When he gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a federal research project in Alaska, he’s out the door to embed with a Native village for the year. But he quickly discovers the assignment is harder than it seems. The village — POINT HOPE — is less than 30 miles from ground zero. And the people of Point Hope — led by the Inupiaq whaling captain NATHAN NEAKOK — aren’t buying the government’s reassurances of the project’s safety.

And soon, neither is Don. Concerning research emerges about potential radioactive
contamination in the food chain. And — even stranger — Don learns that the proposed location for the harbor is ice-locked, making any harbor useless. Before long, plans for the harbor are scrapped. But plans to detonate the nuclear bombs remain. When the government publicly declares the detonation to be safe for the local population — despite evidence to the contrary — Don has to lay it all on the line, going public with damaging research. And soon, this straitlaced, scholarship student has been transformed into a suspected U.S. traitor tailed by the FBI. Together with Don, Point Hope devises a strategy to thwart the government’s plans.

This film — inspired by true events — tells the story of the time an Alaskan Native village joined forces with a young American scientist to face down the U.S. government and protect
their home from nuclear destruction.