France's dirtiest secret was buried in sand—until the lies started glowing.
60 years ago, in the Algerian desert, an atomic bomb, equivalent to three or even four times Hiroshima, exploded. Named the “Blue Gerboise”, it was the first atomic bomb tested by France, and of hitherto unrivaled power. This 70 kiloton plutonium bomb was launched in the early morning, in the Reggane region, in southern Algeria, during the French colonial era. If this test allowed France to become the 4th nuclear power in the world, it had catastrophic repercussions. France had, at the time, certified that the radiation was well below the standard safety threshold. However, in 2013, declassified files revealed that the level of radioactivity had been much higher than announced, and had been recorded from West Africa to the south of Spain.
Direction
Gazut lets silence and landscapes do the screaming.
Editing
Declassified files vs. official lies—devastating juxtapositions.
Director
André Gazut
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
"Gerboise" means jerboa, a desert rodent—France named its doomsday devices like they were perfume collections.
France conducted 17 nuclear tests in Algeria and 193 in French Polynesia; this film helped spark 2021 compensation debates.
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