The Salton Sea is a relatively still body of water. Contrary to its name, it’s an artificial lake located in Southern California. But the government’s use of the lake as an atomic bomb testing site wreaked havoc on nearby communities, the effects of which are still felt by inhabitants today. Screened at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, “AMONG THE PALMS THE BOMB, or: Looking for reflections in the toxic field of plenty” puts together perspectives of local residents to tell a story about the Salton Sea’s troubling environmental history.
The Salton Sea was a popular recreation destination in the 1950s. However, agricultural runoff and evaporation have led to a decrease in wildlife and poor air quality in recent years. The exploration of these environmental problems in “AMONG THE PALMS THE BOMB” are two-fold. The toxins from atomic bombs dropped by the U.S. military led to environmental disaster, making certain plant and animal life unsustainable. On top of the negligent consequences of military-related land use, climate change has slowly decreased the water level. Both of these problems pose issues down the line for the Salton Sea since it will continue to become less sustainable for life, and it will dry up if nothing is implemented to combat the toxicity and falling water levels.
In most documentaries, the narrative direction does not solely depend on the editing of the film, but directors Lukas Marxt and Vanja Smiljanić explore the vast difference in experiences through the film’s editing. The audio and visual footage in “AMONG THE PALMS THE BOMB” come primarily from interviews, in addition to some extra footage displaying the specific subjects the interviewees talk about. The footage speaks for itself — there’s no need to inject the voice of an external narrator into the mix, a commonality of many journalistic documentaries — when the people experiencing the Salton Sea can be that voice instead. One group of focus is the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, who are indigenous to the Martinez Canyon. In one scene, Marxt and Smiljanić highlight several tribe members performing a traditional bird song. The bird song asks the Creator to guide them back to the desert, which directly relates to the 1860s genocide after the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians and several other tribes were forced out of their homes by European settlers…