Love and Lava, Magma and Matrimony.  Sara Dosa’s (“The Last Season”, “The Seer and the Unseen”)  “Fire of Love” encourages such puns, and that’s no accident:  The film explores the relationship of Katia and Maurice Krafft, married volcanologists as they chart the world's volcanoes from the late 1960s until their untimely deaths in 1993.  It’s a film that takes science seriously, but, like its subjects, isn’t afraid to have some fun.

Join Mike as he speaks with Sara about how she’s reworking the standard nature documentary:  How her narrator, Miranda July, explores science as inquiry rather than established fact, and how by juxtaposing seemingly whimsical graphics, Dosa complicates the standard narrative.  How does the growing relationship between the Kraffts echo their relationship with volcanoes?  What role do the twin montages at the heart of the film play in developing both those relationships?  How did the Kraffts differ when it came to dealing with the deadly reality of volcanic exploration?  Finally, how did their interests develop toward the ends of their lives as they began to focus more on the effects of volcanoes on humans, and what is their ultimate legacy?

“Fire of Love” from National Geographic Documentary Films can now be seen in select cities and will be rolling out across the U.S. over the summer.

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