Blowing Up Paradise traces the 30 year history of French nuclear testing at Moruroa Atoll in French Polynesia between 1966 and 1996, marking the 20th anniversary of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand as well as the 60th anniversary of Hiroshima.
Blowing Up Paradise is a rollercoaster of a story packed with massive nuclear explosions filmed in colour, along with proud French generals and presidents, idyllic tropical islands, adventures on the high seas, the bombs of radical terrorist cells and French spies, the struggle of an oppressed people for independence, environmental protest, riots and a city in flames.
The first French atomic tests took place in the Sahara, but when Algeria gained independence, the French needed another test site. They settled on French Polynesia, and in particular, at the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa. The Polynesians embraced the tests as their patriotic duty to France, and work began on the Centre for Pacific Experiments (CEP) in the early 60s. Living standards rose rapidly with the increased economic activity and a modern paradise was created.
Aerial tests were conducted at first, where a bomb was detonated at several hundred meters above the sea. The Americans and British had already stopped aerial testing. They knew of the risks, including pollution and contamination of the surrounding areas, but the French were behind with their testing and going underground would slow them up by two years. Huge mushroom clouds were subject to wind changes and the first tests blew in the direction of the local inhabitants. Soil was contaminated, and the scientists living on the atoll stopped eating the fish. They didn't warn the locals.
In 1963, the French refused to sign the partial nuclear test treaty to ban above ground testing. Tureia was on the edge of the mushroom cloud and fallout shelters were built to protect the 60 inhabitants of the island. These shelters proved to be purely symbolic, and the food, animals and soil of Tureia were poisoned. Today, these people suffer skin problems, diabetes and cancers of every kind.
By 1972, New Zealand environmental groups were sending protest boats to Moruroa, believing that the tests were affecting the environment. Blowing Up Paradise includes footage of the Greenpeace demonstrations, and follows Tahitians as they struggle for independence. Interviews include Pierre Messmer (former French Defence Minister and Prime Minister), Michel Arakino (Tahitian Islander and former French army diver), Bruno Tertrais (French nuclear weapons adviser), Charlie Ching (Tahitian independence leader), Anna Horne (Vega crew member), Bunny McDiarmund (Greenpeace activist) and Alex du Prel (Tahitian magazine editor). (From Denmark, in English and French, English subtitles)
