‘Fire Through Dry Grass’ exposes deathmaking and quickens the creative soul
Andres “Jay” Molina | Co-Director, Cinematographer, Reality Poet
Alexis Neophytides | Co-Director, Producer, Cinematographer
Jennilie Brewster | Producer
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‘Fire Through Dry Grass,’ can now be streamed for free on PBS here.
Fire Through Dry Grass
‘Fire Through Dry Grass’ takes place on Roosevelt Island, New York City, in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. When New York City faced a shortage of hospital beds for treating COVID patients, Mayor De Blasio declared Coler Hospital, a nursing home accommodating over 500 individuals on the north end of Roosevelt Island, to be 'empty.'
Among these overlooked residents are the Reality Poets, a group of disabled artists who describe themselves as "truth-telling artists united by a shared mission to spread a message of realness, resilience, and healing."
As COVID patients from across the city overwhelmed Coler Hospital, exacerbating the challenges in an already crowded facility for those most vulnerable to the coronavirus, the Reality Poets, in partnership with advocates and allies, crafted a clever strategy to disseminate their truth-telling message in efforts to fight for the lives of every nursing home resident living with them at Coler.
The residents began documenting the horror scenes inside Coler using their cell phones, with Andres "Jay" Molina capturing most of the footage. The candid shots are skillfully overlaid with brilliant editing and animation, allowing the poets' art, music, and poetry to narrate the story.
The film begins with the origin story of the Reality Poets, a creative writing group mainly consisting of survivors of gun violence. Initially meeting at the library inside Coler Hospital, this group evolved into an artist collective, hosting numerous events on Roosevelt Island and expanding their influence across the city.
Seven minutes into the documentary, the story makes a somber shift.
First, the lockdown during the peak of COVID lasted for well over a year, preventing residents from leaving and visitors from entering. Then, Mayor De Blasio directed COVID-19-positive patients to a so-called "empty hospital," leading long-term residents to coexist with those undergoing COVID-19 treatment.
People were dying. People were being made dead. And the government was underreporting it. As expressed in the film, if there were only a handful of deaths, then why were there morgue trucks parked in the back of the hospital? Finally, the poets launched a movement.
An exposé of deathmaking
It would be a remarkable story if the film solely focused on the challenges faced by Coler residents during the extended months of lockdown. However, the film reveals a problem that is even bigger than these harrowing moments during lockdown: an exposé of deathmaking that existed long before COVID-19.
Amidst the chaos, the overcrowding at Coler resulted in a demand for more nurses. This, in turn, brought several traveling nurses from out of state to witness the conditions at Coler for the first time.
At one point in the filim, Jay engages in a Zoom conversation with a traveling nurse named Charlotte Deehr. She says the nurses she worked with realized "the (poor) treatment of the patients was nothing new. That this wasn't because of the pandemic." Jay, a long-term resident at Coler, agrees, and Charlotte adds, "We had this one guy who we bathed and found yeast between his fingers. That means no one has bathed this man in months."
Then Jay said that a lot of Coler residents have more significant impairments and have no family and resources; as a result, many of them are voiceless.
The unfolding events bring to light what has long been present before the pandemic. It serves as a compelling reminder for all of us to pay attention to the underlying issues within our society that create systematic neglect. The film powerfully alludes to these problems by sharing a few points about the history of Roosevelt Island, formerly Blackwell's Island, which became the destination to dump its so-called "undesirables."
A quickening of the creative soul
Watching 'Fire Through Dry Grass' was a deeply emotional and personal experience. Through my work at Do For One, I have had the privilege of getting to know many residents at Coler, some of whom were in the film.
The story also sheds light on many points I teach about through my work. We live in a world where, if you live in a nursing home and you're not a part of, as the traveling nurse in the film puts it, "the upper crust" of society, you encounter dehumanization, segregation, control by professional systems, neglect, and, in this instance, deathmaking.
The term "deathmaking" was coined by one of my teachers, Dr. Wolfensberger, to encompass a wide range of actions contributing to the shortening of life and hastening death. These actions vary from indirect and subtle to direct and blatant. Many social commentators believe Western societies are saturated with a "lethal mentality," which has significantly permeated the general population's beliefs, attitudes, and overall ethos or spirit.
An important lesson highlighted in the film is the real issue of the mindset that shapes our organizational structures. The consequences can be lethal when people in powerful decision-making positions, such as government officials, sit comfortably distant from the lives their decisions directly impact. The assumption that a hospital is "empty" without thinking it would be prudent to verify this claim with a phone call (or a Google search!) exposes the longstanding perception of Coler residents as second-class citizens or non-citizens at best and sub-human or non-human at worst.
I hope this documentary ignites your passion and creative soul, much like it did for me, moving you to bring into full use every creative resource you and your community have to firmly oppose deathmaking in all its forms and advocate for life, particularly for those often overlooked.
See my related post, Valuable Lives In The Shadow Of COVID.