"Creating a gorgeous homage to San Francisco, the city that survived the 1906 earthquake, the filmmaker incorporates a series of found images (by Eadweard Muybridge and other photographers) and a decaying nitrate print of the [1906] film A Trip Down Market Street. Architectural motifs immerse the viewer in details of the city's Victorian sensibility. Underground shots of cables and machinery call attention to the new technology of transport prevalent during this period and to the equipment used to make the film. Muybridge appears as an apparition, and harbinger of destruction. Terra Firma is a moving love letter that speaks to city dwellers everywhere." - Madcat Women's International Film Festival.

Over 100 hours went into the contact printing of the original nitrate print, all done by hand using a darkroom timer to expose the fragile film, and transfer it to modern day 35mm film stock. This re-mastering of the print was also achieved entirely by hand-processing. Terra Firma was commissioned by The Exploratorium for the Trip Down Market Street 1905/2005 Outdoor Centennial celebration, with support from Rick Prelinger, the San Francisco Cable Car Museum, and the Wells Fargo Museum.