Robin Takao D’Oench’s intense short film Fireline takes us not only into the heart of wildfire fighting but into the lives of the inmates tasked with fighting them. Showing us how we shouldn’t be so quick to judge someone – a sublime and impactful short.

After being denied parole, an incarcerated wildland firefighter desperately tries to call his daughter while his crew combats a fire. Amidst the chaos of the field, an accident forces him to confront the true extent of his obligations.

As we have just seen this week in California, wildfires are monstrously destructive, and those who fight them, including the brave inmate firefighters, are as courageous as they come. Tackling incidents that can become catastrophic in seconds, these men and women do what some of us could not fathom. What may not be as well known for non-North American audiences is that certain states train incarcerated people to tackle wildfires as an extra line of defense.

This allows prisoners the chance to pursue a career as a firefighter when they are released into society. But as we find out with Otto Reyes, if you are up for parole during wildfire season, you may be stuck waiting a couple more months before that release you have long been yearning for comes around.

Director Robin Takao D’Oench has taken the concept of highlighting the limited program that some states use to help prisoners return to society and ensure they do not return to prison by giving them a chance with proper skill sets and occupations to move forward. He has taken great care to highlight how beneficial this ‘voluntary’ program is, instilling hope in the audience that more (hopefully less dangerous) programs will come to the fore around the world.

He shows us in, at times, daringly dramatic fashion that if prisoners are given the chance, a simple olive branch at a proper go at life when back outside prison, they may not re-offend. This excellent work opens up the film to be more than just a father wanting to get back to his child and allows for more threads to seep through, making Fireline a must-watch.

The closing scenes within Fireline, where Otto and his team are battling the wildfires, are utterly fantastic. You feel as if you are there with them as if the wall of heat and increasingly blacking smoke is hitting you. It’s brave filmmaking to get that close, and many props need to be given to D’Oench and his team for being able to get that close to fire safely. Your heart is in your throat for Otto and Davies as all their escape routes are blocked off. Honestly, some of the best work captures the destruction of such fires and the bravery of those who try to fight them. To the point that I am not sure some blockbusters or major shows could achieve what we see here. Simply tremendous.

However, that isn’t all that Fireline has going for it. This isn’t just a film to show off some outstanding production work in severe situations, we are given enough to fell greatly for characters like Otto. He just wants to hear his daughter’s voice, and that need obviously increases the more his life gets in danger. It’s as human as we get. We need our loved ones around us, even if it’s just their voice; it’s a comfort and a reminder that there is never a wrong time to tell a family member, or even a dear friend, how much you care for them.

By placing this type of story arc with prisoners, whom we otherwise would have preconceived thoughts about, Robin Takao D’Oench forces his audience in Fireline to take a step back and see them as something more than that, to see them as people. People who want to do something with their lives, people who have family, who love. We should never forget that we and those around us are human and that maybe, just maybe, there is more to some than what we see on the surface—making Fireline a powerful and compelling short film.

★★★★

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