Rehabilitation of forgotten female figures

By Mathéo Girardin Tarby
Published the 22/10/2025 à 13h00

A powerful documentary to restore its place to an erased figure of science

She changed the course of physics, but her name remains unknown. The documentary Lise Meitner: The Pioneer of the Atom Bomb returns to the exceptional fate of this Austrian physicist, unjustly eclipsed by history. To through archival footage, testimonies and a committed narrative, the film repairs an injustice: that of a woman whose discovery turned the 20th century upside down.

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Two documentaries to give back her place to an erased pioneer of nuclear physics

She revolutionized science, but her name remains unknown. Lise Meitner, Austrian physicist by origin Jewish, a played a central role in the discovery of nuclear fission. Yet, history has long consigned it in the shadow. The documentary Lise Meitner: The Pioneer of the Atom Bomb, directed by Wolf von Truchsess, dedicates nearly a hour to trace his exceptional journey. Through archival images, interviews with researchers and a immersive narration, the film rehabilitates a figure too long forgotten.

She discovered nuclear fission, but refused to let it be made into a weapon. "
Excerpt from the film

A life of science, exile and convictions

The film immerses us in the youth of Meitner in Vienna, his arrival in Berlin, his collaboration with Otto Hahn, and his forced exile in Sweden in 1938. It is there, far from the German laboratories, that she interprets the results of a experiment conducted by Hahn and Strassmann: the uranium nucleus can split. With his nephew Otto Frisch, she names this phenomenon " nuclear fission "and calculates the energy released, confirming Einstein’s famous equation. But Meitner refuses to participate in the Manhattan Project. She firmly opposes the military use of sa discovery. The film highlights this ethical stance, rarely highlighted in scientific narratives.

Thrailer du film de Wolf Von Truchsess, Lise Meitner: the pioneer of the atomic bomb

Arte: a complimentary éclairage

In parallel, Arte offers a short educational documentary on Lise Meitner, accessible online. In a few minutes, he summarizes the major stages of his life, his role in nuclear fission, and the injustice of the Nobel Prize attributed to Hahn alone. This short format, ideal for the curious or school students, completes the movie of Truchsess by making the story of Meitner accessible to all.

Vidéo Arte available here