Prisoners of Fire

Surviving 9/11

August 2021 •English

9/11 was perhaps the defining historical event of the postwar era. Broadcast live around the world like horrifying theatre, it was a moment in history imprinted onto people's memories. But what was it like to actually live through, and how easy is it to move on from a day that society wants to go on remembering? Twenty years on, this film brings together 13 ordinary people who were caught in an event they weren't able to fully comprehend at the time and which they are still working through.

Ladder 49

October 2004 •English

Under the watchful eye of his mentor, Captain Mike Kennedy, probationary firefighter Jack Morrison matures into a seasoned veteran at a Baltimore fire station. However, Jack has reached a crossroads as the sacrifices he's made have put him in harm's way innumerable times and significantly impacted his relationship with his wife and kids.

Paradise

August 2023 •Russian

In 2021, an extreme heatwave gave rise to huge wildfires in the vast subarctic forests of Sakha, a northeastern republic in Siberia. The village of Shologon lies in this taiga landscape, shrouded in orange smoke and black ash. The forest is burning and the flames are approaching fast.

Rebuilding Paradise

January 2020 •English

​On November 8, 2018, a spark flew in the Sierra Nevada foothills, igniting the most destructive wildfire in California history and decimating the town of Paradise. Unfolding during the year after the fire, this is the story of the Paradise community as they begin to rebuild their lives.

Firehouse

January 1973 •English

Conflict erupts within a close-knit engine company of a big-city fire department when a black recruit and a bigoted white veteran clash during a wave of suspected arson in the ghetto. Pilot to the short-lived series that began a run in January 1974.

Behind the Smoke

May 2023 •English

This documentary is meant to bring to light the issues that firefighters and their families faces later in life when the firefighter association and government resources are no longer available to them. Cancer can take more firefighters than anything else on the job. Behind the Smoke is a representative voice of every firefighter, "I was called to save lives, who is called to save mine?"

Backdraft

May 1991 •English

Two feuding siblings carrying on a heroic family tradition as Chicago firefighters. But when a puzzling series of arson attacks is reported, they are forced to set aside their differences to solve the mystery surrounding these crimes.

Fires of Kuwait

June 1992 •English

After Saddam Hussein had the Kuwait Oil wells lit up, teams from all over the world fought those fires for months. They had to save the oil resources, as well as reduce air pollution. The different teams developed different techniques of extinguishing the fires. Man's emergency creativity can be seen at it's best.

A Man's Game

June 1934 •English

During one blaze, Firefighters Tim and his partner Dave (Ward Bond) rescue pretty stenographer Judy (Evelyn Knapp). Falling in love with the girl, the boys try to save her from getting mixed up in an embezzlement scheme.

Burning

September 2021 •English

Follows the deadly Australian bushfires of 2019-2020, known as ‘Black Summer’. Burning is an exploration of what happened as told from the perspective of victims of the fires, activists and scientists.

La regla de Gala

February 2024 •Spanish

Gala is preparing for the firefighter exam when she gets her period accompanied by severe menstrual pain. Together with her father Alfonso, they must figure out how to manage the situation.

The last horse-drawn fire engines in Copenhagen

January 1924 •Danish

Fire Engine of 1788

December 1913 •

All hands to the pump! This demonstration of a 125 year old fire engine shows it can still be useful when the need arises.

Living with Wildfire

September 2018 •English

For 100 years, we have waged war on wildfire in the United States, and ironically, have created a more volatile landscape than ever.

Western Brigade

January 1958 •English

This short dramatic film illustrates a cooperative program of fire protection that was carried out across Alberta in the late 1950s. It presents the problems inherent in a voluntary fire brigade, as well as the everyday heroes who step up and get the job done. The film is an entertaining look at how a crew that was once considered to be the joke of the town can evolve into the best fire brigade in the West.

Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris

September 2020 •English

This ABC documentary special provides a detailed look into the disastrous fire that ravaged Paris' revered Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2019. Firsthand accounts of firefighters, clergy, local officials and those who were inside the cathedral on April 15, 2019, as well as harrowing footage from within the inferno, tell the story of the fire watched around the world.

Varya

September 2020 •Russian

Varya has chosen, as they say, a not entirely female profession: she wants to become a firefighter. The girl comes for some work experience to a fire brigade where she must prove to everybody that she is worthy of being there.

The Guilty

September 2021 •English

A demoted police officer assigned to a call dispatch desk is conflicted when he receives an emergency phone call from a kidnapped woman.

La bataille de Notre-Dame

May 2019 •French

The First Rain

March 2025 •English

A record in 35mm film of the first drenching rain on Los Angeles after the devastation of the wildfires.