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Incandescence at SBIFF Interview with the directors: Velcrow Ripper and Nova Ami.As wildfires ravage the planet, a new National Film Board of Canada documentary offers extraordinary stories of survival and adaptation (Image provided by the NFB)
Q: So tell me all about Incandescence? Where did it come from? What was the idea? What triggered the urge to make this movie? And for what purpose? Velcrow: We first started envisioning the film around late 2018 because the year before there were fires North of us, quite far north, actually, and in an area called Williams Lake, and we live on the Sunshine Coast just outside of Vancouver. And we were experiencing the wildfire smoke coming from that fire, which was quite far away. We hadn‘t really felt the impacts before that time, and so it was just, you know, we were realising that this was starting to become more of a reality, unfortunately, and decided to explore what that meant in a film.
Q: Absolutely. And so how did it start in term of the filming? What was the focus? Please tell me a little bit step by step what happened and how difficult it was to make it happen? Because for us, filmmakers financing is always kind of the nightmare, right? Nova : Yeah. Well, we were fortunate that we pitched the project to the National Film Board of Canada, and we worked with them on developing the idea together creatively with our producer first, Teri Snelgrove and then Shirley Vercruysse. And so, it was built from the ground up with them. We came with the initial idea and then we worked together. To find a vision for the film that was interesting. Every time we make a film, we try to do something. We look at what ‘s out there and how can we add to the conversation what’s already been done, what can we do that will add some new insight and a new approach as well? And we decided that we would do a place-based film and we focused on an area of British Columbia, the Okanagan region, which is the most fire-prone region in Canada. And so we went back several times over the course of making the film through the seasons to explore how fires are impacting the ecosystem communities, the wildlife, and this was when we were coming up with an approach for the film. We made some decisions with the cinematic language : we decided not to use talking heads, for example. And we also decided not to use any music score. It’s a lush soundscape that carries us through the film, which is actually designed by Velcrow, who’s also a sound designer. Not using talking heads was a was kind of bold for a documentary because it’s kind of like your parachute, you know? So, it’s like we cut off the parachute. And I remember our producer saying, do you just want to shoot them just in case? We’re like, no, we’re making this decision. So, we really created a treatment and a structure for the film that became a blueprint that we followed and some creative guidelines. We wanted to get inside the point of view of the animals and the human. So, we were shooting point of view shots and trying to get inside their perspective. So, the film is intended to kind of put you into the journey of experiencing a wildfire from the from before the fire through. Moments of the fire through the years afterwards and one of the things that was at the forefront of all of this was really exploring our relationship to fire because we hear a lot about bad fire and scary fire and destructive fire, but there’s also another side of that. There’s good fire and you know, we’re exploring. How do we work with fire? How can we respect fire and really? And at the end to be able to prevent some of these catastrophic wildfires that we’re seeing. Q: What challenges did you face putting together that movie? Velcrow: I would say the biggest challenge was staying safe and keeping out of the way of emergency responders during the fire crisis. We worked closely with the BC wildfire, the wildfire agency here, as well as we were embedded with a private wildfire crew called Rider Ventures, an Indigenous-led firefighter outfit. In fact, they came to call us their film family because we were around. We really bonded closely with them. We were and they knew how they know how Firefighters know how to stay safe in a fire. We had to always put the priority on the actual the work they were doing, not obstructing their work, yet still getting the footage that we needed. And we did that in a variety of ways. We have our main cinematographer, Vince Arvidson, and with him, we did our key shoots, following our subjects and we also collaborated with a couple of BC wildfire firefighters who are also videographers, who could go to places that we weren’t able to go to and capture extraordinary footage that way. Also, one of our subjects, who is impacted by wildfire in Monte Lake used to be a cameraperson for the news and he films everything. He captured footage while he was surrounded by fire as well, and we use that in his story. Q: What in the process of making this movie surprised you? What did you learn making it, specially about the nature of fire? Nova: Well, we discovered the depth and complexity of fire because in the film, fire becomes a character. It it’s itself. So, we really just learned so much about the many dimensions of fire. Fire is like a shapeshifter. Indigenous people do cultural burns because they understand fire as a force to be respected. For thousands of years, they have been using fire and working with fire and protecting the ecosystem around them and actually helping the ecosystem regenerate with low intensity fires which actually help to prevent these mega fires from coming through because there’s not as much fuel left to burn. And then there’s just witnessing the absolute devastation that that these megafires that are that are happening, especially in the wake of climate change. That that they can just come through and just devastate the land and just destroy the soil in a way that these lower intensity fires don’t. And one of the firefighters that we filmed with talks about how we put a lot of resources into fighting fires. But we need to look at ways to put those resources into preventing fires and helping to create fire breaks and doing prescribed burns. Q: What do you hope a movie like this create in terms of conversation in term of the impact, what do you think is take away with your film? Velcrow: Well, we’re hoping that people will really get a deeper understanding of the complexities of fire and how we can work with fire, how to respect fire. What we need to think about as a society in terms of preventing fire. And how we can take action in our own lives in terms of climate change. It’s really honouring the experiences of people who have been through fires and have lost everything. When we interview people, we create a safe space for them to be able to share their experiences and in some situations, it’s a very healing experience to be able to talk about what happened because often, when you hear about these stories in the news, once the fire is over, you don’t hear from the people who’ve been impacted anymore and it’s not over for them. Once the fire is put out, the experience continues and they still have their lives to put back together somehow. So, we’re hoping that people will have a deeper understanding of that and know what kind of supports they need. Q: Having your movie now in the Film Festival circuit and specifically right now in Santa Barbara, what are your expectation? Nova: Well, first of all, this is a really poignant time to be showing a film about wildfires in Santa Barbara, with the Greater Los Angeles fires that are happening. I think that that the film will really resonate with the audiences and hopefully will help them to process and for people who weren’t in those fires to really understand what everyone’s going through. With that in itself, I think will be very moving. When we screened Metamorphosis, we had our world premiere at Santa Barbara in 2018. There had just been these massive mudslides all around and they almost closed the festival and that was a film about the climate crisis. And that was also very in sync with what’s happening. So, it seems like, the films are somehow reflecting that. We love The Santa Barbara Int’l Film Festival. We’re so honoured to be going back and we’re really excited to be there and connect with audiences around the subject of this film, which is sadly very timely. And to help launch it into the world, you know, it’s a great launching pad for us.
Q: What comes next? Velcrow: We are almost finished with the next one. The working title is ‘Planet 911’. And it’s looking at how do we get through this time of the long emergency through the eyes of people who’ve and communities who’ve been impacted by floods, fires and extreme heat. And looking at ways to move forward. How do we take care of each other?
--------------------------------------- An immersive cinematic experience that transforms our understanding of wildfire, Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper’s National Film Board of Canada (NFB) feature documentary Incandescence will have its US premiere at the 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which takes place February 4 to 15, 2025. Wildfires are burning with increasing intensity around the world. Following the rhythms of the seasons,Incandescence weaves on-the-ground footage with extraordinary stories of courage and community. Made in collaboration with firefighters and impacted communities, the film takes shape from the ancient patterns embodied in fire: destruction, aftermath and rebirth. “As wildfires devastate communities in the Los Angeles area, our hearts go out to everyone impacted, both humans and animals. We are grateful for the hard work of first responders from around the world, who put themselves on the line for their communities. We hope the screening of Incandescence at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival will offer an extra layer of meaning in the wake of these fires. Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper
Incandescence by Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper (105 min) Produced and executive produced by Shirley Vercruysse for the NFB’s Western Documentary Unit in Vancouver. Every summer, wildfires increasingly ravage places around the globe, darkening the skies with thick smoke and reducing communities to little more than ash and debris. Incandescence weaves together immersive on-the-ground footage with first-person accounts from Indigenous Elders, first responders and ordinary people forced to react to a rapidly evolving ecosystem. As climate change continues to escalate, full suppression measures have largely failed, leading to bigger, more intense mega-fires. But there is another way. Indigenous Knowledge Keepers explain that the First Nations people traditionally used controlled burns to regenerate the land. As one woman explains, fire is like a grizzly bear running to stay alive. But instead of fighting this insatiably hungry beast, working with nature transforms fire’s capacity to destroy into a powerful force for growth and renewal. As we experience more and more climate events such as mega-fires, we can direct our attention to how to preserve and protect our communities, and prevent future events from happening. We can look at building our communities as a path to sustainability; supporting each other, knowing each other, sharing ideas, and in the immediate aftermath, being able to provide mental health support for those directly impacted, and housing and living support for those who are displaced. And moving into the future: working together with Indigenous practices with the land, re-building and constructing with fire-resistant and sustainable materials, fuel mitigation and moving away from using fossil fuels. Incandescence had its Canadian premiere at the Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival in Toronto, October 15 to 20, 2024. About the filmmakers Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper are award-winning documentary filmmakers who have collaborated for over a decade on projects exploring our relationship to the climate emergency: Incandescence, an immersive, experiential feature about wildfire, and the award-winning Metamorphosis, a feature documentary about change in this time of climate crisis. Their solo documentary work includes Nova Ami’s Say I Do and Secrets, and Ripper’s Scared Sacred,Fierce Light and Occupy Love.
28.01.2025 | Santa Barbara's blog Cat. : FILM
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