Winner, Hot Docs Audience Award for Mid-Length Documentary
High in the Rocky Mountains, nestled in the boreal forest, are solitary sentinels who survey the landscape as a critical first line of defence in wildfire detection. As North America grapples every year with the threat and devastation of such fires, which is increasing due to climate change, those who work the watchtowers with a bird’s-eye view sound the critical alarm that warns of impending danger. Like the occupations of lighthouse keeper or astronaut, the remote locations and voluntary isolation that are part of the job—along with the very real risk of being struck by lightning—attract a unique kind of individual to this vocation. Director Tova Krentzman crafts a portrait of these guardians that is as nuanced and stunning as the northern landscape, observing the observers as they share their keen insights about the natural world and our connection to it, and how their separation from an accelerated culture gives them an appreciation for this increasingly rare job that is being reshaped by encroaching technologies.