Selected Film
When Fire Turns To Ash is an essayistic documentary that explores the history of Tierra del Fuego, its vanished cultures and empty natural landscapes, and creates a de-colonized reading of the landscape. The voice-over narration is composed of a wide variety of literary sources: historical travelogues, ethnographic writings about the indigenous population, myth collections, Darwin's nature studies and contemporary genocide research. From these, a loose narrative thread is assembled that winds its way through the history of Tierra del Fuego. Different events are highlighted from the stream of history and illuminated as examples. There are several levels in the film: the images depict the present, while the narrative describes the past and the interviews with indigenous representatives describe the effects of colonialism. The film focuses on the interface between nature and disappearing culture. I try to find the traces of absence in Tierra del Fuego today. I am convinced that history is inscribed in the landscape and that the absence caused by the genocide can be felt. The film is intended to make the invisible tangible and question my own tourist view of the “beautiful”, seemingly empty landscape.
Duration: 01:36:00
Country of Origin: Austria, Canada
Language: English, Spanish
Director(s): Michaela Grill
Writer(s): Michaela Grill
Producer(s): Michaela Grill
Key Cast: Miguel Pantoja, Rubén Maldonado, Tahali Ayelen Villanueva, Estela Maris Maldonado, Teresa Catalina Vargas, Maria Olinda Vargas, Tarsicio Vargas, Daniela Bogarin, Alba Chaile, Margarita Maldonado, Maria Salamanca, Jose Gonzalez Calderon, Luis Gomez Zarranga
Other Credits: cinematography: Michaela Grill; Sound, Sounddesign, Composition: Nick Kuepfer; voice: Elizabeth Anka Vajagic; Indigeneous Advisor: Miguel Pantoja, Alba Chaile; production manager, translation: Mariana Frandsen; script consultant: Barbara Pichler; sound mastering: Harris Newman