A character-driven, action-packed documentary about Detroit, told through the eyes of the Detroit firefighters, the men and women charged with the thankless task of saving a city that many have written off as dead.
Practical Effects
Actual fires, actual danger — zero CGI, all sweat
Acting
Brendan 'Doogie' Milewski: born documentary star
Editing
Tight 86 min that never lets you breathe
Director
Tom Putnam
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Co-director Brenna Sanchez is a Detroit native who spent 3 years embedded with Engine 50; she originally planned a short, then the 2008 financial crisis hit and Detroit literally started burning more.
The film's 2012 release predated Detroit's bankruptcy by one year, making it a prescient document of municipal collapse that predicted the largest Chapter 9 filing in U.S. history.
US
