Let the Fire Burn

Jason Osder's 2013 documentary covers the 1985 confrontation in Philadelphia between a Black liberation organisation and the city authorities. The stand-off ended with police dropping an explosive on the roof of the building; the fire that followed killed eleven people and burned an entire neighbourhood. The film is made entirely of archive material. Television recordings of the public inquiry held afterwards, the testimony of a surviving child, local news footage and a documentary previously made about the organisation are set side by side. Osder does not comment and uses no narration. The arrangement of the material is the sole instrument; who said what, and what went unsaid, becomes visible through the editing. Who it's for: those who like archive-based documentary and are interested in American political history. Who it's not for: viewers troubled by real footage of the deaths of children and adults; the film uses it directly.