DVD Review: Uranium Drive-In

Uranium Drive-In is an interesting and completely engaging documentary on the question of whether a poor town should embrace the opening of a uranium mill to help its economy. This documentary doesn’t rely on narration or too many title cards, but rather lets the area’s citizens be the voices on the issue. And because of that, we really feel for people on both sides. And we feel we get a more balanced viewpoint.

The film opens with a somewhat haunting song playing over some nice natural landscape shots, and for a moment I forget that I’m watching a documentary. Our first glimpse of the town’s people is at an outdoor community meeting at which they are addressed by a man from Energy Fuels, the company that is behind the uranium mill. The crowd applauds him. Interestingly, a quirky sense of humor is established for the area, when the towns of Naturita and Nucla are shown on the map of a T-shirt worn by one of the townspeople. This sense is also seen in the shot of the town’s sign, which reads, “Welcome to Nucla – Home of 1000 friendly people and one grouch.”

And then we get to know many of the folks who live in the area, like a married couple that’s been out of work for a while and hoping to secure jobs at the mill when it opens. We also meet members of the Sheep Mountain Alliance, an environmental group opposed to the mill. The film allows us to get quite close to these people, learning a lot about what led them to their various viewpoints on the issue. For example, Sheep Mountain Alliance member Jennifer has taken on the work of her father, who died at the age of forty-four to leukemia. And the mayor of Naturita takes the film crew on a driving tour of the town, pointing out how lots of homes and stores are now vacant because the area’s economy is failing.

The history of the area itself is also quite interesting, particularly the anecdotes regarding Uravan, the entire town of which was condemned due to the presence of radioactive materials in 1984. And yes, there was actually a drive-in theatre in the area called Uranium Drive-In.

What I love is that this is a film that is sympathetic to the human concerns on both sides. It allows, even encourages, the viewers to see the issue from several perspectives and perhaps form their own opinions. I highly recommend seeing it.

Special Features

The DVD contains five deleted scenes, each of them about specific residents of the area, including a former uranium miner and an organic farmer. These scenes total approximately nine minutes. There is also a biography of the film’s director.

Uranium Drive-In was directed by Suzan Beraza, and was released on DVD on October 21, 2014 through First Run Features.