Paradise
Jaw dropping visuals and urgent human stories permeate this IDFA 2022 award winning doc about Siberian villagers bravely battling wildfires themselves after the Russian authorities abandon them citing their plea as too costly.
As one of the largest tracts of virgin forests in the world, the taiga region is sparsely populated and hard to access. In 2015 the Russian federal government decreed that northeast Siberia is a ‘control zone’, meaning that local authorities will no longer help fight wildfires in this area because the cost of the effort exceeds that of the damage. Abandoned, the inhabitants of Shologon village face down the raging inferno with little equipment or training. Russian director Alexander Abaturov documents their determination and heroism, as prize-winning French cinematographer Paul Guilhaume (Paris, 13th District, SFF 2021) captures the scene’s perverse beauty, in this critical reminder of the impacts of global warming.
Shortlisted for the Sustainable Future Award. 
- Program Strand
- International Documentaries, Sustainable Future Award
- Original Title
- Paradis
- Year
- 2022
- Classification
- All Ages
- Country
- France, Switzerland
- Language
- In Yakut with English subtitles
- Director
- Alexander Abaturov
- Producer
- Rebecca Houzel, Alexander Abaturov, Luc Peter
- Screenwriter
- Alexander Abaturov
- Cinematographer
- Paul Guilhaume
- Editor
- Luc Forveille, Alexander Abaturov
- Premiere
- Australian Premiere
- Genre
- Festival Award Winners, Documentary, Environmental, Asia
- Company Credits
- Sales Agent: The Party Sales
- Official Website
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