For American victims of nuclear tests, Oppenheimer does not sufficiently recognize their suffering

Wesley Burris was sleeping peacefully in his bed when the first bomb of the nuclear age exploded, just 25 miles from his home.

A blinding light invaded his lost home in the desert of New Mexico, in the southwest of the United States.

Then suddenly, the incredible force of the explosion shattered the windows.

Completely dazzled, he saw nothing, asking his father:

This explosion, which occurred at 5:30 a.m. on July 16, 1945, and its preparations, are filmed at length in

, favorite for the Oscar for best film.

But despite a duration of three hours, Christopher Nolan's portrait of the father of the atomic bomb never shows the inhabitants who were victims of the famous Trinity test: on screen, the experiment takes place in a completely empty desert expanse.

In reality, thousands of people - mostly Hispanic and Native American, according to a recent documentary - lived within a radius of 80 kilometers around the top secret site chosen by the military and scientists to test the nuclear weapon.

Among the neighbors, no one understood why a gigantic mushroom cloud disfigured the horizon, remembers Mr. Burris, now 83 years old.

,” he says.

Also read: What is Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan's biopic crowned best film at the Baftas, really worth?

Radioactive elements up to 15km altitude

Eight decades later, this American knows well the deadly consequences of the explosion, which projected radioactive elements up to 15 kilometers in altitude.

The test took place in stormy weather, despite scientists' warnings, because the United States was in the midst of a bomb race to end World War II.

After the explosion, torrential rains returned all the toxic material to the ground.

The earth and dust of the desert, the water sources, the entire food chain: everything has been irradiated.

As a result, Wesley Burris saw his brother die of cancer.

Her sister also had to fight this illness, and her niece now suffers from the same illness.

He himself suffers from skin cancer, which he tries to cure using natural Native American medicine.

Despite the exorbitant price paid by the victims of the Manhattan Project, none of them have received any compensation.

,” said Tina Cordova, a cancer survivor who heads the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, an association that demands justice.

But unlike guinea pigs,

,” she is furious.

For this activist,

has the merit of anchoring the Trinity trial in the consciousness of millions of spectators.

But the feature film

.

With thirteen Oscar nominations, she hopes that the film team will use the March 10 ceremony as a platform, to

.

,” regrets this woman, whose family has had cancer in five generations since 1945.

She hopes that the United States will ultimately repair this historical injustice.

Because if a law made it possible to compensate the inhabitants of Nevada, Utah and Arizona, neighbors of subsequent nuclear tests, nothing was ever attributed to the victims of the first bomb in New Mexico.

To help families, often in debt due to prohibitive medical bills, the community is increasing its charity events.

,” Ms. Cordova quips.

For his part, Wesley Burris remains bitter about the

plot .

,” he snarls.

The octogenarian has been sidelined his entire life.

In July 1945, two strangers wearing strange glasses were seen near his house on the day of the explosion, without saying anything.

Afterwards, the authorities spoke of a

.

A few years later, men in white overalls and masks took soil samples near the family home.

Wesley Burris' brother was concerned.