Cartography of Ashes

45 min. • video • 2006

“Cartography of Ashes” was a 45-minute poetic documentary and public film event. Created with the cooperation of the San Francisco Fire Department and narrated by Bay Area firefighters, the film combines oral history, folklore, journalism, and experimental storytelling to recount tales from the great firestorm that destroyed San Francisco in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake. Completed in April 2006 for the 100th anniversary of the disaster, “Cartography” made its world premiere as a site-specific outdoor film screening on the wall of a fire station in the city’s Mission District on April 21, 2006.

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