Stray Embers

Chronicling eight long-term AIDS survivors in the San Francisco Bay area, Last Men Standing established Erin Brethauer and Tim Hussin as sure-handed documentary filmmakers and ones deft at telling complex, humane stories.

A decade later, Stray Embers makes good on that potential and should vault the directorial duo to the top of every list of up-and-coming documentarians.

Featuring footage lensed on the ground, mere days after the Camp Fire destroyed the Northern California town of Paradise in November 2018, the film centers on Brad Weldon, a big-hearted, no-nonsense widower who, along with his much younger housemate Mic McCrary, stayed behind to save his house — and his disabled, 90-year-old mother Norma — from the flames.

The magnetic personalities of this hardy trio nicely counteract the ash-covered destruction around them, and as displaced friends and family begin arriving at Weldon’s refuge of a home, that dynamic is further enriched by the numerous new human (and canine) additions.

Letting this fascinating turn of events play out with minimal interference, Brethauer and Hussin wisely play observer but also inherently know when to break through and interact with their subjects, yielding some of the film’s most touching moments.

This moving portrait of community in times of crisis is contrasted and occasionally accompanied by Weldon’s friend Lenny McAfee, who hiked back into a nearby canyon in the middle of the evacuation order, built a shack out of tin scraps and survived within its walls. A colorful character and gifted storyteller, McAfee’s isolated existence, living in communion with nature as opposed to among people, offers an intriguing contrast to the extended family atmosphere at Weldon’s house.

The filmmakers capture these survivors with palpable love and respect that earns them access to major moments as the years go by, as well as the occasional emotional blow-up. in turn, they’re privy to the daily struggles and victories that people experience in the recovery from a natural disaster, and as those events sadly become more commonplace, Stray Embers could serve as a playbook for overcoming extreme adversity.

Grade: B-plus. Not rated but with adult language and content. Screens Nov. 16 at the Fine Arts Theatre.

(Photo: This Land Films)