Seabrook 1977

“SEABROOK 1977” is a feature video documentary on citizen protest and non-violent civil disobedience at the site of a nuclear power plant under construction in Seabrook, New Hampshire. It is the story of people making history from the grassroots. Filmed in a cinema-verite style, this portrait of social change in action, examines the perspectives of various participants on all sides of the event.On April 30, 1977, in the small coastal town of Seabrook, New Hampshire, over 2,000 people organized by the Clamshell Alliance participated in the largest non-violent mass occupation of a nuclear plant in the United States. 1414 people were arrested the next day, and held in National Guard armories for two weeks. These events catalyzed the rapid growth of the grassroots opposition to nuclear power, which has become one of the major political issues of the decade.This documentary places the events of those weeks in the context of an examination of the use of civil disobedience to further social change, the role of government in handling dissent, the controversy surrounding nuclear safety, and the local opposition to the Seabrook plant. Scenes of the protest and internment are interwoven with interviews with participants on all sides including local Seabrook residents, then N.H. governor Meldrim Thomson, police and utility officials and anti-nuclear activists.