As a longtime activist who is also a wheelchair user, I've always been a fan of the unexpected activist. So, you can probably guess that I fell in love with these "Golden Girls" of environmental activism featured in Brennan Robideaux's 39-minute award-winning short film Sallie's Ashes. 

Faced with terminal lung cancer, it's 80-year-old Sallie Smith who absolutely commands our attention as she rallies an unlikely team of Alabama grandmas committed to fighting for the removal of a toxic coal ash pit that threatens to turn their beloved Mobile Bay into toxic waters. 

The film was nominated for a Critics Choice Award in the area of documentary short after its 2025 Telluride Film Festival premiere. Not surprisingly, it grew from there with multiple fests and jury awards throughout its festival fun. 

Robideaux does a beautiful job of constructing Sallie's Ashes, though he's smart enough to know that we're going to be absolutely drawn to these women and he lets them tell the stories unhindered. Sallie's Ashes could have easily been a feature doc and I'd have kept on watching. 

I'd have watched Sallie's Ashes for its activism element alone, however, watching Sallie battle political forces, communal forces, and her own health challenges adds such a layer of emotional resonance that I found myself absolutely captivated throughout. It's worth saying, though, that her compatriots - Diane Thomas and Savan Wilson. 

In some ways, Sallie's Ashes is a relatively simple film. It's an inspirational film done well, devoid of expected inspiration porn in favor of heartfelt storytelling and truths galore. You'll find yourself wanting to know these women, and you'll find yourself wanting to protect Mobile Bay. 

Bravo, indeed. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic