Bearing Witness: halflife* and The Forgotten Bomb

Not every project halflife* takes on is built for popcorn and box office. Some are built to matter in a different way — and The Forgotten Bomb is one we're especially proud to have shepherded from start to finish.

Written, produced, and directed by Stuart Overbey and David Garcia of halflife*, The Forgotten Bomb is a feature documentary examining the enduring legacy of nuclear weapons in a post-Cold War world most people assumed had moved past that fear. The film follows host Bud Ryan on a global journey — from the Peace Museums of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to nuclear science museums across the United States, and to New Mexico, the birthplace of the atomic bomb — asking what the bomber can learn from the bombed, and whether a nuclear-free world is still within reach.

halflife* wasn't just behind the camera on this one — we produced the film and handled all editorial and finishing in-house, seeing it through from concept to final cut. It's the kind of full-circle, hands-on involvement we look for: not simply executing someone else's vision, but building the film from the ground up.

The documentary features a striking roster of voices, including former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, authors Gar Alperovitz and Jonathan Schell, survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, and archival appearances from Harry Truman and J. Robert Oppenheimer. Distributed by Cinema Libre Studio, the film earned praise from the National Catholic Reporter, which called it "an excellent documentary film... a great resource," and went on to screen at festivals and community events across the country, including a Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembrance Day screening at the Utah Film Center with director Stuart Overbey in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.

From a Best Picture-nominated Western to a Disney Channel hit to a documentary tackling one of the most consequential subjects of the last century, halflife*'s range speaks for itself. We go where the story needs us — and sometimes, that means asking the hardest questions.