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DIR. TOVA KRENTZMAN, 2024, YUKON | 47 MIN
Perched in the Boreal Forest above sparsely inhabited expanses across northern Canada, we meet the people behind the binoculars. Fire tower “lookouts” all experience the rush of spotting smoke and pre-empting evacuations. They all take pride in protecting the land and its people. They have all been struck by lightning.
For more than a century, lookouts have been the dedicated “eyes in the sky”, a critical first-line of defense. Today, despite the unprecedented number of wildfires, there are only four Canadian provinces that continue to employ human radar. The best way to stop a fire is to spot it early – lookouts are still critical anchors in our fire safety networks. Beyond the action, gazing out from their towers also grants the lookouts telling moments of introspection. In our hyper-connected, multi-tasking world, Fire Tower invites us to contemplate how solitude can inspire a different kind of connection with nature, community and our own creativity. Winner of the ALFF Pitch Prize, 2022.
Director Tova Krentzman and cast & crew in attendance.
Genre: Documentary
Screens with:
DIR. TREVOR DIXON BENNETT & RYAN DICKIE, 2024, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 20 MIN
The Medzih Story: Restoring a Caribou Landscape is a short film documenting the work one indigenous community is doing to help restore decades of industrial impacts on the land base as a mechanism to help stabilize boreal caribou populations. Located in Treaty 8 Territory in present day northeast British Columbia, the Fort Nelson First Nation find themselves at the ‘tip of the spear’ when it comes to repairing linear disturbances in caribou habitat. As Dene and Cree speaking peoples who have occupied this land since time immemorial, the initiative is an example of their everlasting responsibility to respect, and care for the land and animals that have sustained them forever.
Genre: Documentary