Home on the Range

This documentary offers a balanced view on the events round the Marshall Islands, and particularly the Kwajolein Atoll. For the last thirty years, Kwajolein has been used as a testing area for, among other objectives, the Star Wars programme of the U.S.A. It is the target area for nuclear missiles that are launched from Vandenberg Air Base in California.
In 1947, the population of Kwajolein was forced by the U.S. government to evacuate their land and go to the nearby island Ebeye, just outside the nuclear zone. This 'ghetto of the Pacific' is too small and not fertile enough to support all its inhabitants. They had to give up their traditional way of life and became totaly dependent on the American food supply. The agreed trial period has expired but still the atoll is used as a testing area. So not surprisingly, someone has joined battle with the American government, Seventy-two year old Handel Dribo's army consists of women, children, and old people. They wish to return to the land of their youth and parents. Handel Dribo's attempt to preserve the traditional values of his culture and to lead a quiet life is doomed to failure in this hornets' nest of warlike activities. His act of protest is nothing more than a symbolic action.
The existence of a people is directly threatened by the carrying out of nuclear tests. The initiative to stand up against that was the direct cause for this film. Adam Horowitz' documentary is an arresting film about the slow killing of a peace-loving people.