Land of Fire

synopsis

Elderly men in battered pick-up trucks drive through the Canadian wilderness, where nothing – even firewood – remains after massive wildfires. Although they are constantly on the move, they never cross the boundaries of this dying region. Nikola Klinger’s melancholic observational documentary portrays north-western Canada as a forgotten corner of the country grappling with both environmental and social decay. Moreover, the locals live in the shadow of the unexplained disappearances of young Indigenous women. They find at least some respite from their longing and trauma in neighbourly solidarity and modern-day rituals, such as a demolition derby at the local scrapyard. 

“We’ve probably lost more than 60% of our land to the fires.”

biography

Nikola Klinger (1987) is a Czech documentary filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. He studied photography at UJEP and audiovisual studies at FAMU’s Center for Audiovisual Studies. His work focuses primarily on the lives of non-conformist individuals and isolated communities. His feature-length debut, La Reine (2023), won an award at Ji.hlava IDFF.

film details

director:	Nikola Klinger
producer:	Kristina Husová, Jan Wilde
photography:	Nikola Klinger
editing:	Ema Adamove
music:	Michal Cáb
sound:	Nikola Klinger, Lukáš Kosek
script dramaturgy:	Martin Ryšavý, Jana Ševčíková

contact

Kristina Husová / CINEPOINT
husova.kristina@gmail.com