Genre
Synopsis
AFRAID OF THE SHADOW OF YOUR OWN BOMB is an essay film that takes the tone of a dark tragedy set amidst the backdrop of the Red Scare, just eight years after the Holocaust. Communism was the enemy, the nuclear arms race was in full swing, and paranoia was in the air. A cyclone of nationalist fear, propaganda and madness led to the conviction and execution of the “Man-Wife Spy Team,” Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. And the “steely, stony, tight-lipped woman” who was “cold and unfeeling” became the symbolic mastermind of an egregious, treasonous operation to share nuclear spy secrets with the Russians. Except there was one problem: she was innocent. So why was this young, idealistic, leftist Jewish American housewife executed?
Bio
Joanna Sokolowski is an Emmy award-winning producer and creative non-fiction story teller. Her documentary work has been broadcast on HBO, Netflix, and PBS. Her podcasts have won Webby Awards and streamed on Stitcher and Spotify. Her critically acclaimed debut feature documentary, OVARIAN PSYCOS had its world premiere at SXSW and was nationally broadcast on PBS' Independent Lens. She directed ARTIST AND MOTHER and CITY RISING: THE INFORMAL ECONOMY for KCET — both of which were nominated for LA Area Emmys and won LA Press Awards. She co-produced the Emmy Award Winning HBO film VERY SEMI-SERIOUS. She was the senior producer for AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE OFFICE, and most recently co-created and executive produced a kids podcast with LeVar Burton for Stitcher/SiriusXM titled SOUND DETECTIVES. Her work has screened at over fifty festivals internationally including SXSW, Hot Docs, MASS MoCA, and BFI London Film Festival. She has produced for audio, TV, film, independently, and commercially -- mostly she just loves a good story.
