At a time when climate science is being all-too-often renounced as a hoax, and widening economic inequality is continuing to jeopardize people's quality of life, Ice on Fire offers innovative solutions that address both preeminent issues simultaneously. By featuring cutting edge, solutions-oriented research that not only boasts significant and fast-acting carbon sequestration, but that also contains the capability of generating profit, scientists are instead envisioning a more pragmatic, bases loaded approach to sustainable solutions that even a more skeptical and conservative audience, whose primary concerns are job creation and profitability, can buy into. One of the unique ways this film bridges the accessibility gap found in many science-heavy documentaries is through it's highlighting of relatable innovators whose stories and efforts can be understood by anyone. Most notable are the tales of two farmers who are transforming their respective industries by bringing environmentally sustainable solutions to traditionally working class practices; Iatef Vita's urban farming amidst the concrete jungles of LA and Bren Smith's kelp and shellfish farming along the shores of the East Coast are two examples that could be affordably implemented and highly impactful in a myriad of ways from boosting local economies to improving community health. Ice on Fire as a whole paints a hopeful vision of collaborative solutions to our impending ecological crisis through Mehmedinovic's striking cinematography and Connors' incisive direction.
