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Films

Films offer rich visual windows into the people, places and stories of our campaign.  The small selection of films on this page include speeches, animations, short documentaries, synchronised dance routines and an instructional video on bomb dismantlement. To see a wider selection, please visit ICAN’s Youtube and Vimeo pages.

If you love this planet

A beautifully animated short film, If You Love This Planet, brings to life Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow’s passionate call to action, on the day that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted at the United Nations — 7 July 2017. (5:08 minutes).

The beginning of the end of nuclear weapons
On the 7th of July 2017, 122 countries voted in favour of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Countries that don’t have nuclear weapons but live under their threat voted for a ban. Without the knowledge of most of their citizens, the governments of the world’s nuclear powers didn’t vote, and yet the ban went ahead. Something new is happening.

This documentary film about efforts to bring a nuclear weapon ban treaty into international law and the role of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, ICAN, is told through the voices of leading activists from several different organizations and countries and the president of the negotiating conference.

This 56 minute documentary film takes the viewer through a brief history of the bomb and the anti-nuclear activism that has pushed to eliminate them ever since their invention. It moves into a consideration of the humanitarian initiative that successfully challenged the dominant security narrative and the historic steps taken since 2010 to turn the treaty from a dream into a reality. Finally, the film shows what can be done by anyone to help bring the treaty into force and to stigmatise nuclear weapons until they are finally eradicated.

Extracts of fourteen interviews are woven into the story that will leave you feeling inspired!

This film was produced by Pressenza. For information on organising showings of the film contact tony.robinson@pressenza.com

Anointed
A heart-wrenching poem about radioactive racism and the long quest for peace and justice, written and spoken by ICAN campaigner Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner of the Marshall Islands, where the United States conducted 67 nuclear test explosions. Produced by PREL and directed by Dan Lin. (6 minutes)

ICAN's beginnings

From a small group of people in Melbourne, Australia, to a global campaign, a treaty banning nuclear weapons and a Nobel Peace Prize.
ICAN was founded in Melbourne, Australia, in 2007. Hear about how and why it was formed, how we achieved the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and what lies ahead.

Produced by Jessie Boylan.
Speakers: Tim Wright, Dimity Hawkins, Tilman Ruff and Margie Beavis.
This film was created with the generous support of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War.

Please donate to support our work in Australia.

Music:
Ollie MC “The Love That You Bring”
John Butler Trio “Ocean”
Ryuichi Sakamoto “Forbidden Colours”

Australian first nations voices

The films below feature Anangu-Yankunytjatjara second generation nuclear test survivors Karina and Rose Lester, daughters of the late elder Yami Lester, Kokatha nuclear test survivor Aunty Sue Coleman-Haseldine and her granddaughter Mia Haseldine.

Mia Haseldine, Kokatha woman, Aunty Sue Coleman-Haseldine, Kokatha elder, and Karina Lester, Yankunytjatjara-Anangu woman shared their personal and community stories of the intergenerational impacts of nuclear weapons testing in Australia and their hopes for the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to help achieve nuclear justice.

The Port Augusta Hub, live-streamed to the Vienna Nuclear Ban Forum, was part of a series of global events organised by civil society around the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in Vienna, Austria on 21-23 June 2022

Aunty Sue Coleman-Haseldine presented this statement to the 2021 UN General Assembly high-level plenary meeting to commemorate the International Day Against Nuclear Tests.

 

Karina Lester presents an Indigenous Statement to the UN negotiating conference for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, June 2017.

 

Aunty Sue Coleman-Haseldine speaks at the UN negotiations for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, 28th March 2017.

 

Rose Lester speaking in Sydney during the Black Mist White Rain Speaking Tour in April, 2016.

 

Pacific voices
The films below feature former Marshallese Senator Abacca Anjain Maddison, Marshall Islands advocate Danity Laukon and Fijian campaigner Dr Vanessa Griffen.

Danity Laukon from the Marshall Islands delivered this statement to the 2021 UN General Assembly high-level plenary meeting to commemorate the International Day Against Nuclear Tests.

 

Abacca Anjain-Maddison from the Marshall Islands delivered ICAN’s closing address after the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted at the United Nations, 7th July 2017.

Vanessa Griffen, Fiji, addresses the UN conference to ban nuclear weapons on the second last day of negotiations. She highlights the importance of the clauses on victim assistance and environmental remediation for the people of the Pacific, 6th July 2017.

Abacca Anjain-Maddison speaking in Sydney during the Black Mist White Rain Speaking Tour in April, 2016.
How to dismantle an atomic bomb
A dedicated team of disarmament technicians dismantled a nuclear weapon near the gates of the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility outside Alice Springs in Central Australia, fifty years since its inception. The joint US-Australia facility is vital for preparations for nuclear war and would be a key target (2016, 3:36 minutes).

Filmed on Arrernte country, at the gates of Pine Gap and the Kuyunba Conservation Reserve.

Disarmament technicians: Cath, Ray, Sarah, Seb, Meret, Crunch.

Camera: Hilary, Pathi, Tim, Zach, Dimity, Gem.

Editing: Gem.

Music: ‘Drone Bomb Me’ by Anohni.

For Bill Williams 22.09.58 – 12.09.16

(Don't Want Your) Nuclear Umbrella
What do you get when you cross ICAN and Rihanna? A disarmament odyssey done in style.
Filmed in Melbourne, 2014 (4 minutes).

Who by fire
One of ICAN’s early classics, this is a retelling of the Prometheus myth in relation to modern-day nuclear weapons, set against the legendary Harold Freedman mural “Legend of Fire” in Melbourne.
Filmed in Melbourne, 2010 (7 minutes).

Featured webinars
We, like many, have spent a good chunk of the covid-19 pandemic and beyond in front of a screen at home. Here are some of our favourite video recordings.

 

AFTER TRINITY: 75 YEARS OF RESISTANCE →

This special video panel commemorated the 75th anniversary of the first nuclear explosion, code-named Trinity, on 16 July 2020. It featured the moving stories of three incredible nuclear survivors: Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, New Mexico, US, Koko Kondo, survivor of the Hiroshima bombing and prominent Japanese activist and Karina Lester, Yankunytjatjara-Anangu second-generation survivor of nuclear testing in Australia. Hosted by ICAN Australia and facilitated by Robert Tickner AO, ICAN Australia Ambassador. 

INTERFAITH SERVICE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT →

A gathering to honour the victims and survivors of nuclear weapons on the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing on 6 August 2020. We heard prayers from seven faiths and an update from ICAN and Rev James Bhagwan of the Pacific Conference of Churches. Co-hosted by ICAN Australia and the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly. Facilitated by Dr Sue Wareham.
 

THE OUTLOOK FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT: TIM WRIGHT→

The Australian Institute for International Affairs, Victoria, invited Tim Wright to discuss the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the broader legal framework governing nuclear weapons. Recorded on 8 August 2020. 

EMERGING FROM THE NUCLEAR SHADOW: GEM ROMULD →

Hosted by ICAN partner, Soka Gakkai International, Australia, and featuring Gem Romuld and a youth panel. Recorded on 9 August, 2020.
 

BETTER PLACE WEB SERIES: TILMAN RUFF →

RMIT lecturer Dr Jonathan Kolieb interviews Tilman Ruff on nuclear disarmament activism and the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Recorded on 22 September, 2020.