Project Rulison
digital video, 4x3, 2026
Experimental animated documentary
Logline: An investigation into the 1969 Rulison detonation, and the quiet dissonance between state record, local memory, and geological retention.
On September 10, 1969, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission detonated a 40-kiloton nuclear warhead 8,400 feet beneath Garfield County, Colorado, attempting to fracture rock for natural gas extraction. Project Rulison is an 8-minute animated documentary that examines the quiet, lasting aftermath of this forgotten Cold War experiment.
Constructed around audio-visual counterpoint, the film pits pristine federal propaganda against oral histories of rural locals who felt the earth roll beneath their feet. Rendered in vector animation and subterranean cross-sections, Project Rulison moves beyond traditional historical re-telling, tracing the friction between state record, human memory, and geological retention.
