Still Standing

SLAMDANCE ’26: Documentary Short

Title: Still Standing (2026)
Director: Victor Tadashi Suárez // Livia Albeck-Ripka
Writer: Victor Tadashi Suárez // Livia Albeck-Ripka
Studio: Still Standing Pictures

IMDb Plot: After the Los Angeles wildfires leave thousands of homes contaminated with toxic ash, residents face an impossible choice: should they risk their health to return home?

Joe Says: Compact, urgent, and undeniably affecting.

Some short films demand the justice of a full length release. And although Still Standing makes excellent use of its ten minutes, those 600 seconds only begin to scrape at the unjustness exposed. In capturing the plight of the so-called “unlucky lucky,” the film lands a sharp punch.

In the aftermath of the January 2025 Eaton fire that destroyed more than 9,000 structures in Altadena, California, thousands of homes remained structurally intact yet poisoned by toxic ash. No clear regulations dictate when it is safe to return. Families exist in a cruel limbo. Their sanctuary still stands, but remains unlivable. That contradiction fuels every frame.

Still Standing Slamdance Documentary Short directed by Victor Tadashi Suárez and Livia Albeck-Ripka

Co-directed by Victor Tadashi Suárez and Livia Albeck-Ripka, the short leans heavily into stark, unsettling imagery. Pristine rooms wrapped in plastic. Black soot dusting pillowcases. Sunlight pouring through windows onto spaces no one can safely inhabit. There are no traditional sit down interviews, only fragments of narration pulled from calls and recorded testimony. The choice gives the film a haunting, surreal tone. The absence of names and faces might be an artistic statement, but it also keeps the audience at an observational distance.

Visually powerful, it simmers emotionally. The lack of a personal anchor prevents the story from fully igniting. That deeper human connection feels like the missing spark.

Even so, Still Standing is compact, urgent, and undeniably affecting. The short shines a necessary light on insurance neglect and regulatory gaps that leave families stranded. No doubt Suárez and Albeck-Ripka consider this a call to demand accountability. The film may be brief, but the issue it spotlights is anything but.