Let The Fire Burn (2013)
94%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: 6 wins & 12 nominations
Smartly edited and heartbreakingly compelling, Let the Fire Burn uses archival footage to uncover a troubling — and still deeply resonant — chapter in American history.
Let the Fire Burn is a documentary that will leave you feeling like you just watched a thriller movie. Director Jason Osder did an amazing job piecing together archival footage to create a powerful and disturbing account of the deadly police assault on the MOVE collective’s fortified Philadelphia row house. It’s a stark reminder of how dumb and dangerous humans can be, and a searing picture of the clash between constitutional freedoms and social society. But don’t worry, you won’t be bored watching this documentary – it’s scary and intense, and impossible to keep your eyes off of.
Production Company(ies)
Amigo Media,
Distributor
Zeitgeist
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2013
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:NA
-
Runtime:1h 28m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 20, 2013 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 25, 2014
Genre(s)
Drama/Mystery & Thriller
Keyword(s)
Let the Fire Burn, drama, mystery, thriller, 2012, 1h 28m, directed by Jason Osder, produced by Jason Osder, written by N/A, starring N/A, box office gross $59.0K, Zeitgeist distributor, rated N/A, reviewed by J Hoberman, Zeba Blay, Michael Phillips, Neil Genzlinger, Tom Long, Wesley Morris, Sarah Brinks, Daniel Barnes, C.J Prince, Neely Swanson, Gerald Peary, Ellen Gray, more, filmmaker Jason Osder, prejudice, intolerance, fear, violence, constitutional freedoms, social society, racial conflict, American history, archival footage, troubling, deeply resonant, smartly edited, heartbreakingly compelling, Yossi, Private Life, Shahid, Bridegroom, Wild, rent/buy from $3.99
Worldwide gross: $64,489
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $81,923
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,044
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 8,934
US/Canada gross: $64,489
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $81,923
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,684
US/Canada opening weekend: $5,226
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $6,639
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,773
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Jason Osder – Producer
Andrew Herwitz – Executive Producer
Nels Bangerter – Film Editing
Director(s)
Jason Osder
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
6 wins & 12 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (46) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (1)
The violent clash between constitutional freedoms and social society, not to mention the racial conflict, make for a very American story.
February 25, 2019
J. Hoberman
ARTINFO.com
TOP CRITIC
There have been many documentaries comprised entirely out of archival footage, but few as powerfully and masterfully structured as this one.
March 28, 2017
Zeba Blay
Shadow and Act
TOP CRITIC
Director Jason Osder’s grieving account of the deadly police assault on the MOVE collective’s fortified Philadelphia row house works small, continuous miracles with a variety of existing footage.
June 13, 2014 | Rating: 4/4
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
[Osder] cuts between news footage of the events as they unfurled and testimony from hearings held afterward to create a stark, nonjudgmental portrait of an incident that probably needn’t have happened.
May 13, 2014
Neil Genzlinger
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
“Let the Fire Burn” offers a searing picture of how dumb and dangerous humans can be.
January 23, 2014 | Rating: B
Tom Long
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
It’s scary as both a movie and a still-reverberating moment in time.
December 10, 2013
Wesley Morris
Grantland
TOP CRITIC
Let the Fire Burn is an intense documentary that plays out like a fictional thriller. First time filmmaker Jason Osder hit a homerun his first time out.
February 16, 2021
Sarah Brinks
Battleship Pretension
Powerful and disturbing.
October 2, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Daniel Barnes
Dare Daniel
Osder’s technique makes this a film that’s impossible to keep your eyes off of, and makes for one of the most effective documentaries to come out this year.
June 22, 2019 | Rating: 7.9/10
C.J. Prince
Way Too Indie
Director Jason Osder has created a film that is an accurate capsule of one extraordinary human rights violation approved and carried out by the political hierarchy of Philadelphia in 1983.
September 18, 2017
Neely Swanson
Easy Reader (California)
[This historic footage — from newsreels, TV stations once-live coverage, from several investigating commissions — has been edited, brilliantly into a coherent, important political film.
June 13, 2014
Gerald Peary
Arts Fuse
It’s a remarkably evenhanded telling of a story in which there could be no winners, using archival footage alone.
May 13, 2014
Ellen Gray
Philadelphia Daily News…
Plot
Let the Fire Burn is a documentary that uses archival footage to explore the violent clash between constitutional freedoms and social society, and the racial conflict that led to the deadly police assault on the MOVE collective’s fortified Philadelphia row house.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
Jason-Osder.jpg
