Filmmaker Larry Sheffield brings premiere of "The Atomic Rocketeer" to Alamogordo

A 2024 film by Larry Sheffield documenting the story of the German Scientist Wernher von Braun will premiere at the Flickinger Center next month.

The film, 'The Atomic Rocketeer' recounts von Braun's work to build a weapon to win World War II.

The film will be shown at 6 p.m. on May 31 and June 1 at the theater located at 1110 New York Avenue in Alamogordo. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at the Flickinger Center website or at the door.

"The results didn’t turn the tide of the war for the Germans but did gain the intense interest of the United States which led to a secret mission called Operation Paperclip," Sheffield said in a news release.

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"This led to the Americans taking the Nazi dream of rockets and pivoting the German efforts to the American advantage despite whatever cost. The Americans choose the remote New Mexico desert to start the first rocket proving ground."

Sheffield has won 22 film festival awards to date, the most recent was the Best Historical Film for 2023 at the Cannes World Film Festival in France.

Recently two other Sheffield films premiered at the Flickinger Center, 'Alamogordo, Center of the World, 1945' and 'Oppenheimer After Trinity.'

The films are a part of a docuseries meant to preserve historical film and stories surrounding New Mexico's atomic history.

“This story effects every human being on earth that wants to learn the history behind humans discovering the quest for space and beyond,” he said.

Juan Corral can be reached at JCorral@gannett.com or on twitter at @Juan36Corr.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: The Atomic Rocketeer will premiere at the Flickinger Center in Alamo