Photo Coverage: Countdown to Zero at Cannes Festival

Here's pictures from the photocall for the film Countdown to zero by director Lucy Walker at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival May 16, 2010.

During the cold war, public consciousness fixated on the atomic bomb. Then the cold war ended, and we retreated into denial. In fact, the danger of nuclear annihilation never disappeared; it only swelled. Countdown to Zero sweeps us into a scorching, hypnotic journey around the world to reveal the palpable possibility of nuclear disaster and frame an issue on which human survival itself hangs.

Scientists, world leaders, and security experts—including Valerie Plame herself—expose the absurdities and alarming realities of the situation. The 1990s heralded a second nuclear age. Many countries and terrorist groups are now actively acquiring fissile materials and construction blueprints. The possibility of an accident or miscalculation looms even larger. As the film projects a startling vision, interviews with Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Tony Blair, and Pervez Musharraf yield a unified message: our only option is to eradicate every-last nuclear missile. Luckily for us, getting to zero is possible—step by step. Let’s jump-start the change.

Former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson

Queen Noor of Jordan

Producer Lawrence Bender and actress Meg Ryan

Queen Noor of Jordan

Valerie Plame Wilson

Queen Noor of Jordan

Actress Meg Ryan and Queen Noor of Jordan

Meg Ryan

(L to R) Actress Meg Ryan, Producer Lawrence Bender, Director Lucy Walker, Producer Jeff Skoll, Queen Noor of Jordan, Producer Matt Brown, Valerie Plame Wilson, Diane Weyermann and Executive Producer Bruce Blair