At CPH:DOX 2024, Business Doc Europe attended the WIP presentation of John Webster’s new doc Burnt Heart. In it, a group of Finnish firefighters form a specialist brigade to prepare for the large wildfires of the future. They travel to Portugal to learn from their elite colleagues already fighting on the frontlines of our climate emergency.
Webster was joined on stage by his producers Eveliina Kantola and Marko Talli. The feature is being produced by Yellow Film & TV in co-production with We Have a Plan and Angel Films.
First, Talli informed the audience about the current status of the project: “At this point, we’ve shot around 80% of the film and editing will start in June. Our editor, Niels Pagh Andersen, is the man behind films like The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence.”
Webster is helming his third feature doc on the topic of the climate emergency. He defines Burnt Earth as “a character-driven story about very relatable ordinary people doing something extraordinary.” The group of protagonists is made up of nine men and one woman. “These wildfires aren’t with us yet in the North, we haven’t experienced them. But all climate models predict that it’s just a matter of time, and that soon they’ll be here. To fight the wildfires of the future they travel to Portugal, [in order] to learn from the best.”
Their training culminates in a one-month field operation on the ground, where they join the Special Civil Protection Unit forces (FEPC), during the fires season.
Kantola showed the audience three clips “to give them a taste of some footage.” She points out that clips won’t be necessarily included in the film, as editing hasn’t yet commenced.
From the clips we get a sense of how challenging the task is for the squad, and also what is stimulating for them is getting to know and learn from their European colleagues. Few of the Portuguese firefighters speak English and, predictably, the Finns don’t speak Portuguese. They all share a common mission, and sometimes use Google Translate to understand each other.
“The strength of our films is that we’ve really accessible characters. They’re not ‘heroes on steroids’ but people from small towns, [coming] from modest backgrounds and leading very relatable lives. Another strength is the experience of the Finns. At home, they might be seen as firefighters, but in Portugal they’re rookies. So everything they experience there is just as new to them as it is to us, the audience.”
Speaking of the doc’s visual style, Webster promises to make the audience “feel immersed in an experience that very few have shared.” “Europe is the fastest warming continent. The fire seasons are getting longer and more intense. And the fires are also moving north. Very recently, there was a devastating fire in Germany and the Czech Republic. [..] For the first few days, the Portuguese veterans try to teach the Finns some of the very basics of firefighting with the time and language skills they’ve at their disposal. But, of course, nothing can really compare to the first taste of what a fire can be like.”
When asked how the story will unfold, the team says that the “learning curve of the Finns” will play a key role, along with some of the wildfires they’ve documented during their time in Portugal.
Kantola confirmed the project has been already pre-sold to Nordic public broadcasters SVT and RÚV, and it will be distributed by SF Studios in the region. At CPH:DOX, the creative team is looking for more distribution deals and festival premieres. Other confirmed financial partners include the Finnish Film Foundation, YLE and AVEK.
