Filmed in Oregon and narrated by David Oyelowo, ELEMENTAL (78 min) takes viewers on a journey with the top experts in the nation to better understand fire. It follows the harrowing escape from Paradise, California as the town ignited from wind-driven embers and burned within a few hours of the fire’s start. It then continues to the even more recent fires just 2 years ago, when Oregon suffered our worst wildfires in recorded history.

ELEMENTAL includes the voices of climate experts, Indigenous people and fire survivors, and asks us to reimagine our relationship with wildfire as we prepare for an increasingly hotter future. Former United States Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck says of the documentary, “Elemental is an outstanding film that deserves the widest possible viewing. In a visually stunning manner, it distills what we’ve learned about wildland fire over the decades and provides a road-map for badly needed changes that will benefit thousands of people, particularly in fire prone communities.”

In the wake of the 2020 fires in Oregon, ELEMENTAL is an important look at discovering how we can all reimagine our relationship with wildfire, now more timely and urgent than ever. Trip Jennings founded Balance Media and has worked with National Geographic for over a decade. His films have won dozens of awards around the world and have aired on major networks on every continent. For nearly two decades, Ralph Bloemers has worked on wildfire and community safety, restored burned trails, and assisted the scientific community with bringing their knowledge and research to the public.

After the movie, learn more from a local panel of experts hosted by West Region Wildfire Council.