Two Minutes to Midnight: Nuclear Cinema

Overview

Among cinema's many wonders, its ability to explore other worlds really can't be underestimated. Behind every superhero story or alien invasion effort are real fears and worries begging to be examined — and, in the case of Shin Godzilla, Doctor Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and Hiroshima Mon Amour, specific concerns about nuclear power.

Screening at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art from March 2 to 18, Two Minutes to Midnight: Nuclear Cinema steps through a series of films with that very topic at their centre, including Them!, La Jetee and On the Beach as well. Overall, the program aims to demonstrate how the globe's filmmakers have approached the topic across various stories, styles and genres.

Stepping into this cinematic dystopia is free, with an illustrated talk about atomic fears and their lingering presence after the Second World War among its highlights. And if you're wondering about the name, it's derived from the very real Doomsday Clock, which represents the world's proximity to nuclear war. Just as it did when the device was introduced back in 1953, it currently sits and two minutes to midnight.