ARTE-Filmpremiere & Gespräch: An Europas Feuerfront (Lessons in Fire)

In the organizer's words:

ON EUROPE'S FIRE FRONT (original title: Palava Maa)
Finland | 2025 | 102 min. | Director: John Webster

Venue: Cinema in the GRASSI Museum, access via the entrance at Täubchenweg 2

49 men and one woman from Finland, accustomed to missions in ice and snow, travel to Portugal and train with the elite FEPC unit on the front line of fire. The film accompanies them on this intense journey: physically demanding, emotionally stirring and visually impressive. The protagonists include Lauri and Soini, who are pushed to their limits, as well as Tuula - a determined mother of four who is deployed as a medical first aider.

The Portuguese FEPC, which has around 250 firefighters, not only fights fires, but also manages them strategically - treating fire like a living thing, with respect and caution. Nature appears as a character in its own right: unpredictable, powerful and thrown off balance by man. The film shows the ever-increasing importance of international cooperation in disaster control.

"On Europe's Fire Front" combines impressive images with personal stories. It makes the challenges of climate change tangible and emphasizes that we can only survive through international cooperation and respect for nature.

Following the screening, Prof. Dr. Michael Müller (TU Dresden) and Uwe Becker (Brandenburg Forest Fire Competence Center) will talk about the film's themes - moderated by Prof. Dr. Dagmar Schwerk (Leipzig University).

The event is part of the lecture series "Man-Nature, Environment and Climate Crisis: Spaces of Knowledge in the Humanities and Social Sciences" organized by the Institute of Indology and Central Asian Studies at Leipzig University.

Trailer for the movie