Throughout the four years I have been at Sonoma State, the school and surrounding areas have been ravaged by fires, some started by arsonists while others were started by a massive gas and electric company. The real issue, brought up in the film was the devastating effects that climate change has brought upon our world. This film, Embers of Awakening by Phyllis Ann Rosenfield sets out to accurately show the destruction and devastation that these fires wrought on everyone in Sonoma County. Claudia Luke, the Center for Environmental Inquiry and SSU Sustainability Programs Director hopes that “This film can be used as a discussion point…I want this film to be shown in classes and to others, I want it to be looked into and studied…to challenge people’s views.”
After the brief introduction to the film, everyone in the auditorium got to see the movie in its entirety. The movie specifically focused on the 2017 Tubbs fire that devastated Sonoma county and destroyed upwards of 5,200 homes in its destructive path. What really struck home for me was the interviews done. It really opened my eyes to the destruction caused by the fires and just how devastating it was for the families whose homes were destroyed, it made me really think about what would I do in a situation like that? I commend the people for being resilient and strong to face down the fires and rebuild right where the destruction took place. The Pardo family's story especially struck a chord with me, being able to see your destroyed home and turn around to say “let’s get to building our new home” right away was something beautiful to see. The history of fires in Sonoma county was discussed heavily throughout the film which showed a disturbing trend that Dr. Luke pointed out, “The Tubbs fire followed the exact same path as others before it, this isn’t the first time these locals have been experiencing the devastating effects of climate change.” The film also went into what the county was doing to curb forest fires so history doesn’t repeat itself. The tips included water conservation, ecology changes, controlled burns, and more. These ideas to stop what ultimately was an avoidable fire are definitely something that should be considered further to help the people of Santa Rosa and more.
After the film, each audience member was put in a small group of three to four to discuss the movie and how it shaped their perspectives on the climate crisis and fires in general. Each group got a different prompt to discuss, our group question was “How does this shape your perspectives on fire? Any personal stories to share about fires around you?” Our group discussed the recent fires that Sonoma State was threatened by, where the students were made aware of a fire and evacuated within the time span of about five or six hours. We also discussed fires back home and being around different ones throughout our lives. Fire and its destructive presence was a common denominator in each of the stories told by the group.
After the group sessions, a small Q&A session was put on by Listening for A Change, the sponsor of this film. One of the questions asked was about the director’s inspiration for making the film and she said “I talked to one of my filmmaker friends for inspiration and we were able to bounce ideas off of each other, it started off as a simple idea back in the 80’s: How can we get people talking about climate change?” That idea grew into what this film is today. She wants people to think about climate change, especially with the ever growing threat of the climate crisis right around the corner. She wants this film to be “used as a talking point to jump out into other discussions about our climate and what we should and shouldn’t do to help out the planet.”