Wildland

Premiered October 29, 2018

Directed by

Alex Jablonski and Kahlil Hudson

Wildland is a sweeping yet personal account of a firefighting crew training to battle nature's most extraordinary force.

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About the Documentary

“Fighting fire is just long hours of hard, boring work punctuated by moments of sheer terror.”

Filmed during two recent wildfire seasons, Wildland is a sweeping yet deeply personal account of a firefighting crew as they struggle with fear, loyalty, dreams, and demons. This is the story of ordinary people with nothing left to lose — as they trudge through an unforgiving a test of mind, body and spirit.

The filmmakers themselves went through firefighting training with those featured in the film, in Grants Pass, Oregon, a sleepy mountain town. Each member of this motley crew has come to this dangerous and unglamorous work for personal reasons — for some, it’s a need to test themselves, a desire for adventure and purpose; for others, it may be the job of last resort after time in prison or a lifetime of addiction.

It is the ultimate demonstration that the most extraordinary will can be found in ordinary people.

The Filmmakers

Alex Jablonski produced and edited Low & Clear, which premiered at SXSW where it won the Audience Award. Previously, he created the documentary project Sparrow Songs, in which he made one short documentary every month for one year. The project developed a worldwide following, and he was named to Filmmaker Magazine’s list of 25 New Faces of Independent Film. The series was spotlighted at Sundance and screened at SXSW and IDFA. In 2018, Jablonski was named a Sundance Institute/Discovery Impact Fellow.

Kahlil Hudson is a Native Tlingit Alaskan and currently a professor of film at Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Arts. His first feature documentary, Low & Clear, premiered at SXSW and went on to screen at numerous festivals including True/False, HotDocs, and IDFA. Together, Jablonski and Hudson run Finback, a branded content company with a client list that includes Patagonia, Filson, RAM Trucks, Chevy Trucks, Yeti Coolers, and the US Army.

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