Fire in Paradise (Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper, 2019): USA

Reviewed by Jacob Baldwin at AFI fest 2019
Fire in paradise is a film that embodies what a documentary should be. That is, it is a slap in the face and awake up call, at once both educational and shocking.

I remember the Real Fire in 2018, which swept through Southern California and even displaced people in Santa Barbara. But the fire had little effect on me personally, as it didn’t effect any of my friends or family.

I had heard that Northern California had been devastated by fires that year, but It still didn’t seem real to me; it hadn’t effected my family, and I didn’t know the extent of the fires.

This film changed that. Fire in Paradise is amazing, showing horrifying footage from the fire in Paradise, California, and focusing on the members of that community.

It is hard to believe that the footage is real – images of a sky blacker than night from the smoke, and a hellish inferno encircling the town of Paradise in all directions.

The are many examples of heroism documented in the film, from teachers to police officers to fire fighters. The accounts given by the survivors are stunning and tear jerking.

But apart from the tragedy, the film also focuses on what must be done to prevent such a tragedy. Climate change was the main cause of the fires, the film argues. The fortitude of the town was also praised. The film shows how it is so hard for a community to resurge after such a tragedy, and begs the question, what can society do in such a situation? What can we do to prevent this?

Fire in Paradise is a great documentary, thought provoking, terrifying, and inspirational all at once. It should be required viewing for citizens in California.