FC Gold 2023 Winner: Trial By Fire

Through long takes and lingering close-ups, Trial By Fire, about the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire, highlights the necessity of seeing and confronting, especially for a tragedy defined by the perpetrators' insistence on looking the other way. A potent story of grief and grieving, it unravels slowly, compelling viewers to sit alongside the characters in their pain, stuck in time even as it cruelly moves on. In the messy overlap between justice and revenge, how best to judge what’s begun to fuel us? As this terrific, thoughtful show reveals, there is no satisfying answer.