‘A Fire Inside’ Gets Rave From ‘Concrete Playground’

A Fire Inside, co-directed by Luke Mazzaferro and Justin Krook, starts in the horrors of Australia’s 2019/2020 bushfire season and ends in a place of catharsis, acceptance, and change.

A potent examination not only of the devastation wreaked by the fires themselves, but the way that the country’s volunteer firefighter service lifted themselves — and each other — up to meet the challenge, the film is heartwarming and confronting in equal measure.

A smash hit at the Sydney Film Festival, the film earned rave reviews upon its first release. One of the most in-depth and careful examinations of the documentary comes from Sarah Ward of Concrete Playground. “As it dives so heartily into the ramifications of assisting during the fires and since, it ensures that all of that gratitude goes hand in hand with recognition,” Ward writes.

“Saluting such selfless acts inherently involves noting them, of course. Still, realising that the toll keeps persisting, that the shock and trauma doesn’t instantly subside when the flames are extinguished.”

Read the full review here, and watch A Fire Inside on 9Now.