Filmed across the Okanagan before, during and after several devastating fires by veteran non-fiction filmmakers Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper (Metamorphosis; ScaredSacred), Incandescence is a mesmerizing cinematic contemplation of the power of wildfires, and also a philosophical rumination on loss and regeneration.
Avoiding talking heads, the film marries stunning nature imagery with a chorus of disparate voices, including fire fighters, evacuees, burned out farmers and home-owners. While much of the film is chastening, there’s hope here too, in the relatively recent acknowledgment that Indigenous practices of controlled burns are a smarter strategy than full-on fire suppression. Extraordinary footage relays the survival instincts of animals caught up in the inferno, too, including that beloved Canadian mascot, the beaver. In BC we know very well the dangers that wildfires pose. In ways both practical and more mysterious, Incandescence holds out a sliver of solace.
Apr 11: Q&A with filmmakers
As visually striking as it is thought-provoking, offering a compelling blend of education, storytelling, and immersive filmmaking.
Chris Jones, Overly Honest Reviews
Nova Ami & Velcrow Ripper
Canada
2024
English
Book Tickets
Friday April 11
Saturday April 12
Monday April 14
Thursday April 17
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Producer
Shirley Vercruysse
Screenwriter
Nova Ami, Velcrow Ripper
Cinematography
Vince Arvidson
Editor
Hart Snider
Also in This Series
Canadian Film Week spotlights 18 features, including six Vancouver premieres and four brand new films from BC filmmakers, plus returning classics, new favourites, and free screenings on National Canadian Film Day.
Sweet Summer Pow Wow
After the local hit The Great Salish Heist, writer-director Darrell Dennis proves his versatility with this charming love story about two young people who meet cute on BC's Pow Wow circuit. Her mom wants her to become a lawyer, but Jinny loves to dance...
The Decline of the American Empire
Friends from the History Department at the University of Montreal come together for a dinner party. While the men prepare the meal, the women work out at the gym. In both groups, the conversation returns repeatedly to sex...
Village Keeper
In Karen Chapman’s sensitive debut feature, a widowed mother desperate to shelter her teenage daughter and son from a surge of gun violence in Toronto takes it upon herself to cleanse the blood from crime scenes in her Lawrence Heights neighbourhood.
The Barbarian Invasions
Arcand's belated sequel finds his erstwhile "sensual socialist" facing terminal cancer and trying to make peace with his financier son. This is one of the most acclaimed Canadian films ever made, garlanded all over the world.
Incandescence
Filmed across the Okanagan before, during and after several devastating fires by veteran non-fiction filmmakers Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper (Metamorphosis; ScaredSacred), Incandescence is a mesmerizing cinematic contemplation of the power of wildfires.