In the years following nuclear bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Cold War weapons testing involving the dissemination of radiation through clouds of aerosol was conducted by the U.S. government on American soil. Repeatedly exposed to radiation was a predominantly low-income, African American community mostly living in a housing project in St. Louis. As viewers learn in this shocking documentary, the reason that particular locale was chosen was because of its resemblance to downtown Moscow. Target: St. Louis uncovers both the history of the testing (which was administered through the U.S. Department of Public Health, the same federal agency that subjected unknowing black military pilots to the infamous Tuskegee syphilis project) and draws on the recollections of St. Louis residents who were doused by the spray and spent years seeking answers. Director Sean Slater leans heavily on an extensive interview with sociology professor Dr. Lisa Martino-Taylor, who has written a book on the subject, using her thorough research to provide a structure for the film’s narrative, but he also interviews several other experts as well as numerous innocents who were treated like lab rats by their own government. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P (T. Keogh)
Target: St. Louis
(2018) 67 min. DVD: $24.95. IndiePix (avail. from most distributors). Volume 34, Issue 4
Target: St. Louis
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