The efforts needed to fight wildfires are mighty, with firefighters and volunteers, including incarcerated volunteers tasked with extinguishing what could possibly take weeks to finally quash. Inspired by his own grandparent’s story of being imprisoned in the Japanese American incarceration camps during the 1940s, writer, director and producer Robin Takao D’Oench returns to HollyShorts Film Festival with his 4th short film Fireline – a film that concerns itself with the lives of incarcerated wildland firefighters as lead Otto grapples with the challenges of prison life and his desire to connect with his daughter against the backdrop of a forest fire. The film highlighting the pivotal role played by prison labour in California’s firefighting efforts and the limited opportunities for those individuals to pursue careers in firefighting upon reentering society. Ahead of HollyShorts 20th anniversary, set to take place from 8th to 18th August at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, Robin tells us more about this rarely talked about subject matter.
Hello Robin, your short film Fireline is due to play at this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival from the 8th to 18th Aug at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres. How are you feeling ahead of the festival?
I’m excited. This is my fourth film to play Hollyshorts! It’s one of my favorite festivals and favorite venues in LA. This is also the first time FIRELINE will play in Los Angeles and it’s first opportunity for the LA based cast and crew to see it on the big screen.
Fireline concerns itself with the lives of incarcerated wildland firefighters as lead Otto grapples with the challenges of prison life and his desire to connect with his daughter against the backdrop of a forest fire. The film highlighting the pivotal role played by prison labour in California’s firefighting efforts and the limited opportunities for those individuals to pursue careers in firefighting upon reentering society. What inspired you to explore this issue further? How have you found exploring it within your work?
My grandparents were imprisoned in the Japanese American incarceration camps during the 1940’s and were forced into “volunteering” for military service to earn their freedom. The concept of “incarcerated volunteer” service is one of great personal interest to me and to see it reflected in our modern day at the intersection of our climate crisis was a subject matter I wanted to further explore and discuss. Injustice will thrive in the dark until we shine a light on it and force change to happen.
Prior to playing at HollyShorts, Fireline was played at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. What feedback have you received in response to the film?
You never know how people are truly going to respond to something you make and I’ve been really moved by some of the responses. Former inmates who have seen it have praised the film for its depiction of prison work. A lot of people have told me that they didn’t know this was a real thing until after they saw the movie. One person told me that as soon as they finished watching the movie, they called their son who was in school at the time and I just told him, “I just called to tell you ‘I love you.” That really moved me. I wrote the film when my wife was five months pregnant. A filmmaker I really respect referred to the movie as a “poignant meditation on fatherhood.”
The film was made as part of ‘Indeed’s Rising Voices’ program, a program created to discover, invest in and share stories crafted by BIPOC filmmakers and storytellers. What does it mean to have been chosen as 1 of the final 10 films out of the 100s submitted to be selected as a winner?
I got to make ten new friends! It’s a smart, talented, thoughtful creative, caring, supportive and inspiring group of people. I’m grateful to the teams at 271 Films, Hillman Grad, and Indeed for including me in the cohort. They believed in my vision for FIRELINE and they fostering an environment that brought it to life. I got to grow as a filmmaker and will proudly carry this experience with me for the rest of my career.
What have you learned/taken away from creating the film?
There’s a moment when it feels like the water is up to your neck and your feet can’t feel the sand, but if you trust the people around you and they trust you – you’re setting yourself up to do your best work. I credit the amazing team in front of and behind the camera on FIRELINE who worked together to pull this movie off. There are so many people who worked on this film that without their talent, experience, dedication and trust the film would not be what it is.
What can viewers expect from the film?
The team often talked about how most human beings have never seen a wildfire up close – how do we believably bring it to life for an audience? We knew we wanted to showcase the intensity, the danger and the fear of being trapped in a wildfire. We wanted to offer a rare perspective of nature in its most out of control state while emotionally grounding our character. It’s a spectacular end result.
What would you like for viewers to take away from the film?
I hope the film sparks conversation about how we as a society view incarceration and how we can lower recidivism rates by creating employment opportunities that take advantage of people’s experiences. And I hope the film inspires everyone who sees it to tell someone close to them, “I love you.”
Interview by Lucy Basaba.
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