STILL STANDING

Official Selection, 2026 Sundance Film Festival

The urban wildfire that tore through Altadena, Calif., on Jan. 7, 2025, was among the most destructive in history, burning more than 9,000 structures. Thousands of homes were left standing, yet contaminated with toxic ash. Many insurance companies claim these homes are habitable, and there are no state or federal regulations that determine when a home is safe to reoccupy. Residents face an impossible choice: Should they risk their health to return? Shot on 16mm film, “STILL STANDING” documents the transformation of intimate space into an alien and hazardous landscape.

Credits
Producer: Víctor Tadashi Suarez, Livia Albeck-Ripka
Director of Photography: Víctor Tadashi Suarez
Editor: Víctor Tadashi Suarez
Composer: Roy Werner
Sound Designer: Bijan Sharifi

Plays in

IN BETWEEN WORLDS

These eight short documentaries follow people suspended between home and the loss of it, between tradition and transformation, and between the stories we inherit and the ones we choose to tell.