200 000 Phantoms

Illustrated through 600 photographs of the Gembaku Dome in Hiroshima, the history of the twentieth century files past. In 1914, the dome was a dazzling centre of elegant urban life in Japan. On 6 August 1945, the atomic bomb Little Boy brought this to a definitive end. Within one second, 78,000 people perished and the city was completely destroyed, the dome included. Even after a disaster of this magnitude, life can still go on. Hiroshima 2006 is indistinguishable from any other metropolis - except for that dome. It looks on in silence: in the centre of the screen, still damaged by the fire. The dome has the same size in every photo, although it appears to shrink as the colossal buildings sprout up around it. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)