Most Oklahomans don’t have any idea that our state boasts a surprising number of residents from the Marshall Islands, mostly living in the city of Enid.
In fact, much of Enid itself doesn’t even seem to realize that they’re living amongst one of the largest Marshallese populations in America, with thousands of transplants from the Islands calling Enid home.
And even most of those who know couldn’t quite tell you why they’re there.
The answer, and the stories of humanity, community, subjugation, and warmongering horror at the heart of it, all form the basis of the new documentary “67 Bombs to Enid,” a fully Oklahoman production presented by documentary legend Errol Morris that will see its world premiere this month during the deadCenter Film Festival.
If you couldn’t tell from the film’s title, the history and circumstances that brought such a large population from the Marshall Islands all the way to Enid, Oklahoma, don’t exactly make for a happy tale.
Beginning in 1954, thanks to an agreement between the US military and the tribal leadership of the Marshallese island Bikini Atoll, the United States detonated a series of 67 nuclear bombs on and around the Marshall Islands to test their power and effects.
The results were a terrifying spectacle of force and weaponry at the time, but in the decades since, the quieter lingering effects of the blasts and the radiation have taken an awful toll on the soil, the waters, and the human population of the Islands.
Cancers are prevalent in the Marshallese. Skin conditions and genetic disorders are common. Food and vegetation grown on the Islands are unsafe to eat, meaning the Islanders’ diet is comprised mostly of processed and packaged foods.
As some kind of half-hearted attempt at a consolation, the US signed a compact with the Marshall Islands to allow Islanders to travel, live, and work in America without the need for a visa or special immigration permissions.
An American Christian missionary presence and a scholarship from Enid’s former Phillips University began bringing the Marshallese to Enid, and over time, the population grew and has continued to grow to the present day.
But that’s all just the background and the setup of “67 Bombs to Enid,” rolled out mostly through graphical overlays, archival newsreels, and military footage interwoven into the film.
The real story and focus of the documentary is the current experience of the Marshallese community living, working, and growing in Enid, and the persisting barriers of culture, language, and politics that they continue navigating even now.
It’s a testament to first-time feature director (and OKC local) Ty McMahan and his co-director, documentary veteran Kevin Ford, that the film never gets bogged down in logistics or cross-cultural minutiae, keeping the focus instead on the Marshallese residents that have invited them into their Enid homes and lives.
This isn’t a stark history lesson or a self-righteous political PowerPoint presentation, it’s a look into a very real, incandescently vibrant community living right here in our state right now.
They keep the frame loaded with so much life and so much energy, focusing on children playing or teenagers showing off and returning again and again to the music and the dance of the Marshallese culture and how much of a life-affirming force it is for their community.
It’s a film about a high schooler hoping to be the first Marshallese to get a football scholarship to his preferred college. It’s about a newly disabled Islander struggling to get medical or disability assistance when he’s not legally considered a citizen. It’s about a public school rep who’s made it her life’s work to foster the Marshallese community of Enid and to encourage the younger generations to embrace and spread their culture.
And it’s just as much about the push to get that younger generation of Marshallese children – the ones that were born here in America – registered to vote, something that the compact-allowed transplants from the Islands still can’t do, even as they pay taxes and serve in the military.
It’s about the multi-generational families and the multi-generational paths toward assimilating into a society that barely knows you’re there at all, let alone why.
The filmmakers spent more than three years visiting, talking, and filming with the community in Enid, and that depth and commitment shows in the film and makes it clear why Morris was so impressed by the subject and approach that he came on board to lend his name as Executive Producer.
But it never oversteps or overreaches. It’s content to be a small and intimate portrait of a mostly very quiet and largely insulated community, showcasing the full spectrum of their experience from abundant fun and joy to heartbreak to hurt and disappointment, and ultimately to hope.
So much of the film is dedicated to the children and younger generations of Enid’s Marshallese community and how they are navigating the current world and incorporating their culture into their plans and hopes and dreams for the future.
By virtue alone of the subject matter and the willingness to embed within the community so deeply for so long, “67 Bombs to Enid” would already herald McMahan – and his producing partner Brandon Kobs of OKC-based production house Allsweet – as an important new force in politically and culturally-charged documentary filmmaking.
But their quietly reserved strength as emotional storytellers, and their insistence on keeping the focus fixed simply on the deeply human experiences and shared community of the Marshallese culture, will likely go even further in establishing them among the strongest voices in Oklahoma’s emerging filmmaking community nationwide.
“67 Bombs to Enid” will have its world premiere during the deadCenter Film Festival June 12th at 7:00 p.m. at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, with an encore screening on June 15th at 1:00 p.m. at First Americans Museum.
For more information, visit 67bombs.com, and for deadCenter Film Festival passes and information about individual screening tickets, visit deadcenterfilm.org.
Catch Brett Fieldcamp’s film column weekly for information and insights into the world of film in the Oklahoma City metro and Oklahoma. | Brought to you by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
