Published by Uranium Film Festival

Jun 15, 2026

The International Uranium Film Festival is dedicated to all films (movies, documentaries, animated films, image films, art, fiction and non-fiction) about any nuclear issue: uranium mining, nuclear power plants, nuclear...

SCRIPT AWARD TO ATOMIC BILL AND THE PAYMENT DUE

Libbe with Márcia Gomes de Oliveira (left) at the Cinematheque of the Modern Art Museum (MAM Rio) in 2023.

Films from Canada, Spain, Germany, Brazil and the USA received the top awards and honorable mentions of the 15th International Uranium Film Festival of Rio de Janeiro, 2026. In addition a Special Script Award was given to "Atomic Bill and the Payment Due" by Libbe HaLevy. From May 21st to 30th, 2026, the 15th International Uranium Film Festival of Rio screened at the Cinematheque of the renowned Modern Art Museum (MAM Rio) 31 „atomic“ films from 18 countries addressing all nuclear issues.

SPECIAL SCRIPT AWARD JURY STATEMENT

"While the IUFF does not yet solicit scripts, one came to our attention that compels us to acknowledge it as a future piece of great importance. ATOMIC BILL AND THE PAYMENT DUE by Libbe HaLevy is an Oppenheimer-adjacent true story of media manipulation at the dawn of the Atomic Age, the New York Times reporter who sold his soul to get the story, and the modern podcaster who took him down. Adjacent in subject matter to this year’s Best Investigative Documentary Award winner, Bombshell, and set against a background of modern nuclear concerns, it illuminates the dramatic and emotional background that led to not only the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan, but the very human concerns that shaped the people who made that decision. As a future production on stage or screen, this is a story that needs to be seen. The Special Script Award is also intended to encourage other authors and screenwriters to address this very important topic", Márcia Gomes de Oliveira, IUFF executive director.

LIBBE HALEVY

Libbe HaLevy is the producer/host of Nuclear Hotseat, a weekly podcast/broadcast now in its 16th year. A survivor of the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island from just one mile away, she is the author of the nuclear memoir YES, I GLOW IN THE DARK: ONE MILE FROM THREE MILE ISLAND TO FUKUSHIMA AND NUCLEAR HOTSEAT. Her new play, ATOMIC BILL AND THE PAYMENT DUE, received a staged reading in a 400-seat theatre as a centerpiece of the 50th anniversary of the Wilmington College Peace Resource Center, and will be presented as a staged reading for the South County Peace Group on Long Island, New York, on August 6, 2026, to commemorate the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Libbe HaLevy accepted in 2023 the IUFF Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award in Rio de Janeiro and serves as Ambassador to the United States for the International Uranium Film Festival. Photo shows Libbe with Márcia Gomes de Oliveira, IUFF executive director, at the Cinematheque of the Modern Art Museum (MAM Rio).

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

For 15 years the International Uranium Film Festival (IUFF) raises awareness about the risks of atomic power and promotes nuclear disarmament with independent films and panels of experts around the globe. In October 2024, Hollywood's MovieMaker Magazine named it one of the "25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World 2024". And in 2025, the festival's founders, Márcia Gomes de Oliveira and Norbert Suchanek, received the prestigious "Nuclear-Free Future Award" in New York City in the category education.