The House at Otowi Bridge

“75 years ago on July 16, 1945 at 5:20 a.m. the United States Army tested the first Atomic Bomb in the desert of Alamogordo, New Mexico…”

Seventy-five years ago the building, testing, and dropping of the first Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan changed our world forever. THE HOUSE AT OTOWI BRIDGE is based on the true story of Edith Warner, a Philadelphia woman who travels west to settle among the San Ildefonso Indians of Northern New Mexico. She opens a tearoom in the desert and begins to feed the bodies and souls of the physicists who build the first atomic bomb at Los Alamos, including Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Edward Teller. 

Set in the 1940’s, this is the story of the war between Nature and Science, between two sides of the American psyche – the Native Americans who live in harmony with the earth, and the great white scientists who, in order to save the world, could destroy it. 

At the center is Edith Warner, caught between the love she has for two extraordinary men on opposite sides of the making of the bomb: a Native American spirit dancer named Tilano, and the world-renown, Nobel Prize-winning Danish physicist, Niels Bohr. 

In 2020 – in a world where there is so much unrest and so much technology so readily available – Edith’s story and the issues it dramatizes have never been more resonant. Or urgent. 

By Bruce Gelfand.

1 thought on “The House at Otowi Bridge

  1. Hi! I just attended the presentation and came away very impressed. You assembled a comprehensive panel of knowledgeable individuals. Loved the fact that the Pueblo people were heavily represented. I have read The House at Otowi Bridge and have since been interested in the people behind the scenes who supported the work at Los Alamos. Thank you for taking the time to come to Santa Fe (La Fonda is the best!). So looking forward to your film!!

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