Saturday, May 8, 10:00 PM, Charles Theatre 3
Sunday, May 9, 11:30 AM, The Hall at Brown Center

Director: Chris Boebel and Nick Poppy

Cast: Jim Buchanan, Susan Stranahan, Eric Epstein, Robert Reid, Paula Kinney

Country: U.S.
Year: 2003
Running Time: 60 minutes
Format: Beta SP

The accident at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979 raised issues of nuclear power safety around the world, but it was the people of Middletown, Pennsylvania who had to deal with the most immediate concerns. Although major disaster was averted, there remained questions about the effects the accident had on human health as well as lingering psychological consequences.

Containment covers what happened during the accident itself, but its main focus is the 25 years since in Middletown. The six year fight by local activists to close down the plant failed, leaving bitter feelings towards TMI and skepticism about the politics’ carrying out the will of the people. Though the group still protests today, it’s not quite in the same numbers and intensity as before, and now high school students learn about nuclear safety with no personal recollection of the accident.

-- Dan Krovich

Preceded by:
SHARP – LEADENHALL: A PROMISE TO KEEP - Paul Santomenna (15:00)

An African-American enclave since 1790, the tiny South Baltimore neighborhood of Sharp-Leadenhall nearly disappeared in the 1960’s. Today, descendants of the area’s original settlers continue to battle outside forces for control over their birthright.

Chris Boebel is an alumnus of New York University’s Graduate Film School. His credits include the short film Like/Dislike, which screened at film festivals around the world, including Sundance. He also wrote and directed the feature film Red Betsy and was the co-creator/writer/executive producer of Ted the Head, a series of shorts for Nickelodeon.

Nick Poppy was born near Middletown, Pennsylvania and was evacuated with his family during the accident at Three Mile Island. He graduated from Williams College and is currently a video editor at Comedy Central and writes about film and culture for such publications as the Boston Globe, Salon, The Believer, and indieWire.