Anchor Point

DIRECTORS STATEMENT — HOLLY TUCKETT

Storytelling is the breath that gives me life. It’s innate — who I am, not just what I do.
Throughout my life, stories have been the vehicle for new adventure and experiences, meaningful connections with others and a broadening of my understanding of the world.

As a nonfiction filmmaker I have the good fortune to do work that allows me to live within my core values of connection, loyalty and quality. Each is intertwined with the other and each grows from trust. Trust lays the foundation for deep connections that allow me into their world to begin to build the intimacy that leads to impactful films. Loyalty is required to maintain the trust that opens deeper narratives and engenders a level of comfort with my place behind the lens as they lay themselves bare to the world. The end result is the kind of quality storytelling I want to do.

As with any artist, I do bring a point of view to the stories I tell through documentary film. Each begins with the thread of an idea that gets woven through the characters and circumstances that make their way to the screen.

But it’s never my desire to tell an audience what to think or how to react. Rather, I strive to use my artistic voice to make films that challenge the viewer. I want to take them on a journey through varied perspectives and push against assumption and common belief. I hope to broaden horizons by fostering conversation and even disagreement. I seek to tell stories that create empathy, offer insight and fuel change so that each member of the audience can arrive at their own crossroads of thought and perhaps walk down a path previously untravelled.

Anchor Point is exactly that kind of journey. The world of wildland firefighting wasn’t well-known to me before I began filming. I knew women chose the profession and worked the fire lines, but I did not know about the challenges — gender bias, discrimination, sexual assualt — they have faced. On some level that was not surprising; women in every profession continue to have to fight their way through such barriers no matter what work they do. But I never really considered that in a career which by definition demands skills, physical and emotional strength equally from men and women was still a place where equitable treatment was still so hard to find.

Over the two years it took to create Anchor Point, I developed a strong emotional bond with these women. As someone who often works in the male-dominated camera department, I felt like I was seeing my own career mirrored through the camera lens. I know what it is like to do back breaking work to slowly be promoted up through the ranks. So many times I have been in a room of men who were talking shit about women without considering that it made me uncomfortable. I have also struggled to brush off the sexist language and “man-up” for the sake of keeping a job or fitting in. The women of wildland firefighting carry those burdens with grace and compassion for one another. Their support of each other and the innovative ways they are helping women develop both practical and leadership skills make me feel hopeful about the future for women in all male-dominated careers.