“Half-Life of Memory” preserves the stories of Rocky Flats

We all know that famous quote by George Santayana, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Here in Boulder County, we have a long history of environmental activism and protest – especially when it comes to Rocky Flats,  the former nuclear weapons plant in Colorado that operated from 1952-1989, manufacturing tens of thousands of plutonium bomb triggers for the United States’ nuclear weapons arsenal, now an extremely contaminated Superfund site.

Many of the changemakers involved in the movement to shut down Rocky Flats still live in and around Boulder County to this day. KGNU has been uplifting that movement since its origins – we actually came to fruition largely as a result of that movement – but that doesn’t inherently mean its legacy and lessons live on. I’ve come across many people since I moved here a year ago that have no idea what Rocky Flats was when it was active, nor the threats the site poses now.

Jeff Gipe is trying to change that. He’s an artist and filmmaker, mostly focused on issues surrounding the Rocky Flats plant.

His new documentary, Half-Life of Memory: America’s Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory, seeks to keep the story of Rocky Flats alive and preserve the stories of what happened there for future generations.

KGNU’s Jackie Sedley sat down with Gipe to talk about the film. He started by telling them why he decided to make this documentary in the first place.

Listen:

Half-Life of Memory will be shown at the Denver Film Festival three times. The Wednesday showing still has tickets available – the other two dates are on standby. You can find event details and tickets at denverfilmfestival.org.