CBC’s documentary Channel has commissioned a feature-length doc about Canada’s role in the Manhattan Project, which led to the invention of the atomic bomb.

Atomic Reaction is directed by Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T.-based Dene filmmaker Mason Mantla (Fireweed) and editor and filmmaker Michèle Hozer (Sugar Coated), with Yellowknife-based Dene radio host Lawrence Nayally (pictured) serving as the on-camera storyteller.

The documentary is produced under the banner Atomic Reaction Films, with David Hatch and veteran music executive Bernie Finkelstein serving as executive producers alongside documentary filmmaker Shelley Saywell. It was commissioned by Jordana Ross, executive in charge of production for documentary Channel.

Production on Atomic Reaction begins today with two units, one led by Mantla in Great Bear Lake, N.W.T., and the other led by Hozer in Port Hope, Ont. and Montreal, Q.C.

The doc examines “100 years of Canadian nuclear history,” according to Hatch in a statement. It connects the events leading up to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan to a Dene prophecy from the 1800s, and explores the history of what a news release calls Canada’s “Atomic Highway” and the Canadian research into the development of the atomic bomb.

Both archival photos and video will be used in the documentary, as well as interviews and animation provided by artist Kurt Swinghammer, with award-winning composer Jonathan Goldsmith handling the score.

Funding for Atomic Reaction has been provided by the Canada Media Fund, the Rogers Documentary Fund and the Ontario Creates Film Fund.