26 September 2023

A Fire Inside

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Reviewed by Rama Gaind.

Directors: Justin Krook, Luke Mazzaferro, Icon Film Distribution.

The tragedy associated with the 2019–2020 bushfire season in Australia is still raw for many people. The smoke, the flames and the suffocating heat brought despair, anguish, utter devastation and heartbreaking stories of lives lost, homes and businesses destroyed, heroic firefighters killed on duty and millions of native animals and their habitats wiped out.

It’s more than just déjà vu. Painful images are resurrected in the feature documentary A Fire Inside, but directors Justin Krook (Machine, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead) and Luke Mazzaferro (Machine, Red Hill) deliver an inspiring look at the way people respond to crisis and its true cost to the human spirit. While the bushfires horrified the world, the selfless acts of everyday Aussies inspired us all.

By all accounts it was the worst fire season ever recorded. Apocalyptic scenes still haunt us, with memories being resurrected, as properties and lives were shattered.

Personal accounts of the work of volunteers in responding to the black summer fires and its impact on them and their communities are compelling, stirring and poignant.

On the first day of the inferno on the far South Coast of NSW, firefighter Nathan Barnden saved seven strangers, but lost his uncle and cousin. There was little time to grieve as he kept working throughout the 200-day emergency. The selfless actions of RFS captain Brendan O’Connor and his crew saved his community in the Southern Highlands. In the aftermath others are rebuilding their homes; he’s trying to rebuild his life.

Australia’s 2019–20 bushfire season was unprecedented. Just as communities started on the long road to recovery, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. The interviews with volunteers, farmers, publicans and pensioners uncover stories of distressing misfortune, but also of astonishing resilience.

A Fire Inside is out on DVD and digital on 15 December 2021.

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