Film Archive

Jahr

Filmstill Tale of the Three Flames

Tale of the Three Flames

As três chamas
Juliette Menthonnex
International Competition Documentary Film 2023
Documentary Film
Portugal,
Hungary,
Belgium,
Switzerland
2023
21 minutes
Portuguese (Portugal),
Spanish,
Dutch
Subtitles: 
English

“See you next year!” a Portuguese fire warden says as he dismantles his control equipment at the end of the season. Humans and nature in southern Europe may be used to forest fires, but that does not change the facts: The ever more massive conflagrations are caused by climate change. We have long been living in the age of fire.

In the Portuguese interior, a forest fire has just devastated a large area. Wounded nature is silent, not a single bird is heard, only the wind that makes the charred tree trunks rustle. But the vegetation recovers astonishingly fast. Where all life seemed to be gone, greenery soon sprouts from the ruined trees. The residents of the affected region are engaged in the reconstruction with great respect for their natural environment. Because plants, too, are sentient creatures. In quiet, almost melancholic, but also hopeful images, the film pays tribute to the strength of the trees and illustrates how essential it would be for humanity to learn to live in harmony with nature again.

Annina Wettstein

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Juliette Menthonnex
Cinematographer
Ilona Szekeres, Sergio da Costa
Editor
Antoine Flahaut, Juliette Menthonnex
Producer
Véronique Vergari, Victor Candeias, Agnès Boutruche
Sound
Juliette Menthonnex
Sound Design
Yatoni Roy Cantu