“Fire of Love:” The Krafft's Fatal Love for Volcanoes

NOW WE TURN TO A BURNING LOVE STORY BETWEEN ONE COUPLE AND THE WORLD.

THE DOCUMENTARY "FIRE OF LOVE" TELLS THE EPIC TALE OF SCIENTISTS AND THEIR LIFELONG QUEST TO DISCOVER THE STORIES AND SEC RELATES OF VOLCANOS.

♪ ♪ >> THIS IS KATCHA AND THIS IS MAURICE.

TOMORROW WILL BE THEIR LAST DAY.

THEY WILL LEAVE BEHIND HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF FOOTAGE, THOUSANDS OF PHOTOS AND A MILLION QUESTIONS.

>> SINCE IT RELEASE, THE FILM HAS RECEIVED CRITICAL ACCLAIM AND AN OSCAR NOMINATION.

DIRECTOR SARAH JOINS HARRY TO DISCUSS THE INCREDIBLE FOOTAGE SHOT BY THE PAIR DURING THEIR DARING EXPEDITIONS.

>>> THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.

FIRST OF ALL, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE PREMISE OF THIS MOVIE, IT KIND OF JUST BLOWS YOUR MIND.

THERE WAS A COUPLE THAT STUDIES VOLCANOS?

HOW DID YOU FIND THIS STORY?

>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME ON TODAY.

GREAT TO BE HERE.

I FOUND THE STORY SERENDIPITOUSLY.

IT TELLS THE STORY OF AN ICELAND WOMAN IN COMMUNICATION WITH NATURE AND WE WANTED TO OPEN THE FILM ACTUALLY WITH ARCHIVES ERUPTING VOLCANOS IN ICELAND AND ONCE WE WENT ABOUT THE RESEARCH, WE LEARNED ABOUT THE ERUPTING VOLCANOS IN ICELAND BEFORE ONCE WE LEARNED ABOUT THINK LOVE FOR THE PLANET, WE WERE HOOKED.

THE FACT THEY WERE IN LEAVE WITH EACH OTHER AND EARTH GOT THE BALL ROLLING ON MAKING "FIRE OF LOVE".

>> COULD ONLY DREAM OF VOLCANOS TOGETHER THEY CAN REACH THEM.

THEY MEET ON A BLIND DATE IN A CAFE.

FROM HERE ON OUT LIFE WILL ONLY BE VOLCANOS, VOLVOLCANOS, VOLCANOS.

>> [ SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH ] >> TELL ME ABOUT THIS COUPLE.

THAT'S SORT OF SO FASCINATING TO ME.

HOW DID TWO PEOPLE WHO LOVE VOLCANOS SO MUCH DECIDE TO DO THIS.

>> THEY ARE SUCH SINGULAR INDIVIDUALS.

THEY MET AS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN THE LATE 60s AND THEY REALIZED THAT THEY BOTH POSSESSED THIS RARE PASSION FOR VOLCANOS.

BOTH GREW UP IN POST WAR FRANCE RIGHT ALONG THE GERMAN BORDER AND THEY BOTH POSSESS KIND OF A SENSE OF DISILLUSIONMENT WITH HUMANITY.

THEY KIND OF FELT THAT HUMANS DESTROYED MORE THAN THEY CREATED WHEREAS THEY HAD AN IDEAL VISION OF VOLCANOS AS THIS CREATIVE FORCE, CREATED LAND AND BROUGHT LIFE TO THE WORLD AND HAVING THAT UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE AT A YOUNG AGE CAUSED THEM TO BOND, ONCE THEY BEGAN TRAVELING THE WORLD TOGETHER EXPLORING ERUPTING VOLCANOS, THEY EXPERIENCED A TRAN SENDING PERHAPS YOU CAN CALL IT BY WITNESSING SOMETHING THAT POWERFUL AS THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION THERE IS NO TURNING BACK.

THEY WANTED TO DEDICATE LIVES TOWARDS EXPLORING THAT MYSTERY AND THE FACT THEY HAD EACH OTHER ALONG THE WAY MADE IT ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT AND MEANINGFUL FOR THEM.

>> TELL US ABOUT ALL OF THESE REELS OF FOOTAGE THAT YOU WENT THROUGH AND STILL PHOTOS YOU USED HERE.

THEY WERE DOCUMENTING THESE IN PART FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, RIGHT?

>> THEY WERE.

THEIR CORE HORTS WERE REALLY DEVOTED TOWARDS CAPTURING VOLCANIC PHENOMENON BECAUSE NO VOLCANO ERUPTS THE SAME TWICE.

WHEN YOU CAN SET IT TO THE CAMERA THROUGH STILL PHOTOGRAPHY OR CINEMATOGRAPHY YOU CAN SET IT TIME AND TIME AGAIN AND ENABLE ADVENTURES TO MOVE FORWARD BECAUSE THEY WERE SUPPORTED FOR THE DOCUMENTATION OF WORK AS WELL.

BUT THAT CAUSED THEM TO SHOOT HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF FOOTAGE.

NOT JUST DATA BUT A CONDUIT FOR THEM TO CONNECT WITH THE BEAUTY AND THE MAGIC AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PLANETS THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH CAPTURING THE IMAGERY AS WELL.

CELEBRITIES IN FRANCE AND BECAME CELEBRITIES OVER TIME IN FRANCE BECAUSE PEOPLE WERE INTRIGUED BY THIS LIFE, LIFE'S PURSUIT AND LOVE STORY AND SO THEY APPEARED ON TELEVISION SHOWS, ON THE NEWS, THEY EVEN HAD THEIR OWN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR KIDS SO WITH THE FOOTAGE, THERE IS A VISUAL AND AUDIO RECORD AVAILABLE TO US TO GET TO USE AS WELL.

>> WE DON'T -- I GUESS WE TAKE IT FOR GRANTED NOW BECAUSE WE'VE GROWN UP SEEING THINGS THAT WELL BEFORE THESE TWO, NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN RIVERS OF LAVA FLOWING.

RIGHT?

UNLESS YOU HAPPEN TON LIVE NEAR A VOLCANO BUT THEY WERE THE PIONEERS IN THIS BRINGING BACK THIS FOOTAGE OF ALMOST ANOTHER WORLD TO THE REST OF US.

>> YEAH, THAT'S A BEAUTIFUL WAY OF PUTTING IT.

OF COURSE, PEOPLE LIVED IN RELATIONSHIP WITH VOLCANOS FOR THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF YEARS DEPICTING IT THROUGH STORIES AND ART.

BUT THE WAY THAT THEY USED THEIR CAMERAS TO DOCUMENT VOLCANOS, AGAIN, IT WASN'T JUST SCIENTIFIC DATA.

I REALLY BELIEVE IT WAS ART.

THERE IS SUCH A LOVE THAT RADIATES BEHIND THE FRAMES AND YOU CAN FEEL THE CONNECTEDNESS AND DESIRE TO BE AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE.

THEY DID IN FACT GO AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO GET THESE KINDS OF SHOTS.

I'M STILL IN AWE OF THE KINDS OF COMPOSITION THEY CAPTURED ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE HEAT.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHOTS IS OF KATIA IN ICELAND IN THE MID '80s WHEN SHE GETS UP SO CLOSE TO THE END OF THE VOLCANO AND HAS A THERMOMETER IN HER HANDS AND APPARENTLY THE READING WAS 1200 DEGREES CELSIUS AND THERE IS MOMENTS WHERE YOU CAN KIND OF DETECT A SMILE ON HER FACE THAT SHE'S COMING BACK AND SHE'S JUST IN AWE.

SHE'S JUST ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE YET THAT IS JUST UTTERLY DANGEROUS WHAT SHE'S EXPERIENCING IN THAT MOMENT.

>> YEAH.

YOU KNOW, THERE ARE THESE REALLY WONDERFUL LIGHT HEARTEDNESS MOMENTS.

THEY HAVE THE CAMERA TO CAPTURE POTENTIAL ERUPTION AND STUFF BUT ALSO A LITTLE BIT LIKE YOUR HOME VIDEOS HAPPEN TO BE NEXT TO A VOLCANO.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

THEY WERE KNOWN FOR THEIR SENSE OF HUMOR.

THEY WERE VERY PLAYFUL PEOPLE THAT COMES ACROSS ABSOLUTELY IN THEIR FOOTAGE AND SOMETHING THEIR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES AND FAMILY MEMBERS WHO WE ACTUALLY INTERVIEWED AS WELL ALWAYS SPOKE ABOUT.

AS A TEAM, WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT HUMOR BOTH IN TERMS OF HOW TO MAKE SURE THEIR PERSONALITY WAS CAPTURED IN THE FILM BUT ALSO WHAT IT MEANS TO KIND OF LIVE IN RELATIONSHIP TO DEATH THE WAY THE TWO OF THEM DID.

THEY KNEW THEY COULD DIE AT ANY MOMENT PURSUING SUCH DANGEROUS WORK AND THAT ALMOST SEEMED TO FREE THEM UP TO UNDERSTAND THE ABSURDITY OF LIFE SO TO SPEAK.

THERE IS A LEVITY TO THINGS.

THEY WERE FREED FROM LESSER CONCERNS PERHAPS.

THEY WOULD ALWAYS COME TO WHAT THEY VIEWED AS PETTY AND VAIN HUMAN PREOCCUPATIONS BUT TO BE CLOSE TO A VOLCANO IS KEEN TO THE DIVIDE AND SEEMED TO ALLOW THEM TO DWELL IN THE PLAYFUL HUMOROUS WORLDS THAT WERE FOUND WITH THEIR LIFE'S PHILOSOPHY, TOO.

>> THE UNKNOWN IS NOT SOMETHING TORE FEARED.

IT IS SOMETHING TO GO TOWARD.

>> [ SPEAKING NON-ENGLISH ] >> THEY KIND OF TOOK DIFFERENT APPROACHES.

ONE WAS EXPLAINED AS A BIRD.

ONE WAS EXPLAINED AS A SEAL.

>> SHE IS LIKE A BIRD AND MAURICE IS LIKE AN ELEPHANT SEAL.

PLAYING WITH THE BIRD IS LIKE DIVING AND BOBBING AND WEAVING WITH IT AND THEN MAURICE IS EGGING ON THIS BALD ELEPHANT.

A DANGEROUS ANIMAL BUT BECKENING IT TO COME TOWARDS HIM.

THAT COMPARISON WE WANTED TO USE THEIR FOOTAGE TO DESCRIBE THEIR OWN PERSONALITIES AND WE ALSO -- THAT SPECIFIC REFERENCE ACTUALLY COMES FROM AND WAS INSPIRED BY A FEW LINES DESCRIBED IN SIMILAR TERMS.

I SHOULD SAY EVERY CREATIVE CHOICE WE MADE IN THE FILM WAS GUIDED BY THEM.

WE SAW THEM AS THE NORTH STAR BUT AS YOU SAID, THEY WERE VERY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

THEY HAVE A SHARED GOAL AND THEY KNEW THEY NEEDED EACH OTHER TO PURSUE THIS LOVE OF VOLCANOS BUT HAD DIFFERENT APPROACHES AND CREATED CONFLICT AT TIMES.

SHE WAS THOUGHT TO BE A BIT MORE METHODOLOGY.

SHE BY NO MEANS WAS CAUTIOUS.

SHE WAS EXTREMELY BOLD AND COURAGEOUS.

MAURICE WAS A BIT MORE I WILLING TO RISK ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.

HE WAS KNOWN TO HAVE A CERTAIN KIND OF ANTICS OR TO REALLY BE SUCH A DAREDEVIL THAT SOMETIMES SHE BELIEVED HIS DARING WAYS WOULD JEOPARDIZE THE LEGITIMACY OF HIS SCIENTIFIC WORK AND CAUSED THEM TO TUSSLE BUT THEY WOULD RECONCILE KNOWING THEY HAD TO TO LIVE THIS LIFE OF PURPOSE THAT THEY -- SO DEVOTED THEIR LIVES.

>> THEY SHARED THE RED VOLCANOS, THE HOT LAVA TO THE GRAY VOLCANOS THAT SPEW TONS OF ASH AND CAUSE DESTRUCTION.

WHY DID THEY DO THAT AND WHY DID THEY DO THAT?

>> WE'RE AWARE AND INTRIGUED BY THE EXPLOSIVE VOLUME KAY KNOWS BUT PARTICULARLY ANIMATED BY THE PURSUIT OF THE UNKNOWN.

THEY HAD AN OPPORTUNITY IN 1980 WHEN MOUNT ST. HELENS ERUPTED TO RESEARCH A GRAY VOLCANO OF COURSE THERE IS A TRAGEDY NEARLY 60 PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND THE ENTIRE AREA WAS DESTROYED YET IT WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT TO STUDY THE ONCE IN A HUMAN LIFETIME ERUPT AND IGNITED CURIOSITY AND FELT THERE WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO DELVE INTO THE TYPE OF VOLCANO THAT WASN'T AS WELLESS KNOWN AND DANGEROUS AND SHE WAS DRIVEN BY THIS PURSUIT OF SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING FOR HER, SHE WANTED TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY LEARN AND MAURICE IS SO IN LOVE WITH THAT BUT THE DANGER GOT HIM MORE EXCITED SO FOR THEM, THEY DECIDED TO COMPROMISE AND DEDICATE THEIR LIVES BECAUSE AT THAT MOMENT AND IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND LIVES, MAURICE IS VERY MUCH WANTING TO DEVELOP A KIND OF VESSEL THAT WOULD ALLOW HIM TO RIDE DOWN A RED LAVA FLOW.

HE WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS AND BUT OFTEN WOULD TEASE HER WITH THIS AS KIND OF LIKE THEY WANTED TO -- OR HE WANTED TO GET SO CLOSE HE LITERALLY WANTED TO BE IN THE LAVA FLOW BUT THROUGH THEIR CONVERSATIONS, BASED ON OUR RESEARCH, THEY KIND OF COMPROMISED AND INSTEAD SAID OKAY STUDYING EXPLOSIVE VOLCANOS WILL GET THEM CLOSE TO THE DANGER AND PROVIDE THIS OF TIMES TIE FOR UNDERSTANDING WHAT SHE WANTS.

SO THEY REALLY SHIFTED THEIR FOCUS TOWARDS THAT KIND OF STUDY AND THAT CARRIED THEM THROUGH THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.

>> HOW DID THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY REACT TO THEM?

>> YEAH, THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY DEFINITELY HAS DIVERSE OPINIONS BY IN LARGE WE FOUND WITH THE SCIENCE ADVISORS YOU ARE WORKING WITH OUR FILM AND SINCE THE FILM IS RELEASED IS THAT THEY WERE VERY MUCH CELEBRATED AS PIONEERS AND SO DEDICATED TOWARDS COLLECTING THIS IMAGERY AND SO DRIVEN BY THEIR LOVE THAT THEIR WORK WENT ON TO INSPIRE GENERATIONS OF PEOPLE TO GO INTO GIO SCIENCE AS WELL AND FOR HER IN PARTICULAR, SHE BATTLED SUCH SEXISM DOING THE WORK SHE DID AS ONE OF THE ONLY WOMEN IN VOLCANO STUDY AT THAT TIME AND ONE OF THE MOST REWARDING THINGS THAT IS HAPPENING NOW, WE GET ALL KINDS OF LETTERS FROM PEOPLE SAYING I KNEW ABOUT HER WHEN I WAS LITTLE AND I LEARNED ABOUT HER AND SHE WAS THE REASON WHY I'M A GIO SCIENTIST NOW OR SOME PEOPLE TODAY ARE SAYING THANK YOU FOR HER, MY LITTLE GIRL, SAW HER AND DRESSED UP AS HER FOR HALLOWEEN AND NOW IT'S HAVING THIS LOVE OF SCIENCE.

THE WAY SHE IN PARTICULAR IS A ROLE MODEL WAS EXTREMELY MEANINGFUL.

OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, THEY DID DEFY SAFETY REGULATIONS TO GO ABOUT THE WORK THAT THEY DID AND THAT CREATED CONTROVERSY FOR PEOPLE FOR SURE.

BUT LIFE'S WORK BEGS THAT QUESTION HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO FOR YOUR WORK?

WOULD YOU SACRIFICE FOR YOUR PASSION IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE?

THAT'S SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF SCIENTISTS TODAY VERY MUCH WRESTLE WITH IN ORDER TO DO THE DARING AND WORLD CHANGING WORK THAT THEY DO.

>> YOU KNOW, ONE THING I WONDER IS PERHAPS THIS IS A TESTAMENT TO YOUR FILM MAKING BUT BY THE TIME WE GET TO THE POINT IN THE FILM WHERE WE DISCUSS THE END OF THEIR LIVES AS A VIEWER, YOU'RE SAD.

YOU'VE FELT CONNECTED TO THEM OVER THE PERIOD OF THE FILM AND I WONDER GIVEN ALL THE RESEARCH YOU DID.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?

>> ON THEIR LAST TRIP THEY WERE VERY FOCUSED ON CAPTURING A VERY PARTICULAR SHOT OF A FLOW WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS FORCES ON THE PLANET.

THEY WANTED TO DO SO SO THAT THEY COULD ILLUSTRATE HOW THE FLOWS MOVED SO THEY COULD PUT IT IN A VIDEO ABOUT UNDER VOLCANIC HAZARDS THAT THEY WERE USING TO TEACH GOVERNMENTS AND DECISION MAKING FORCES.

IT WAS IMPORTANT VOLCANOS NO LONGER KILL, WHICH OF COURSE IS NOT ACTUALLY POSSIBLE.

THEY WITNESSED SUCH DEVASTATION, NAMELY AT THE ERUPTION IN COLOMBIA IN 1985 WHERE OVER 22,000 PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT EVACUATED IN TIME.

THERE WEREN'T PROPER WARNING SYSTEMS PUT IN PLACE, THAT THEY REALLY WANTED TO USE THEIR IMAGERY TO INSTEAD TEACH PEOPLE ON HOW THESE DANGEROUS FORCES WORKED TO SAVE LIVES.

SO THAT'S REALLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING THAT DAY IN JUNE IN 1991 AT THE BASE OF THE MOUNTAIN TRYING TO CAPTURE PARTICULAR SHOT AND IT TRAGIC YET THERE IS SOMETHING DEEPLY POIGNANT AND P POETIC THEY WERE TRYING TO SAVE LIVES.

IT'S QUITE TRAGIC.

THERE ARE PEOPLE MOURNING THEM TODAY BUT THEIR WORK REALLY HAS GONE ON TO SAVE LIVES AND TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO UNDERSTAND THIS VERY MYSTERIOUS FORCE.

>> ON A BRIGHTER NOTE, WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE AN OSCAR NOMINEE?

>> IT A PROFOUND HONOR.

I'M DEEPLY HUMBLED AND STILL SURPRISED BY OUR OSCAR NOMINATION.

MY TEAM AND I, WE TEND TO MAKE VIDEO FILMS ABOUT PEOPLE AND WE NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS IMAGINED THIS WOULD HAPPEN.

IT'S ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS WHERE I JUST KIND OF LOOK BACK AND FEELS JUST OVERWHELMING SENSE OF GRATITUDE FOR MY MENTORS, FOR MY COLLABORATORS, FOR KATIA AND MAURICE FOR SHARING THEIR STORY FOR US FROM THEIR VOLCANO IN THE SKY.

I THINK GRATITUDE IS REALLY THE THING THAT RUSSIA IS FORTH MOST.

I'M HUMBLED TO BE IN THE COMPANY OF THE OTHER FILMS NOMINATED.

I LOVE THEM ALL AND DEVELOPED FRIENDSHIPS WITH THE FILM MAKERS IN THIS JOURNEY SO IT'S MEANINGFUL TO BE IN THIS ALL TOGETHER AND YEAH, IT JUST -- I LOVE THE FACT THAT MORE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO KNOW THE STORY OF KATIA AND MAURICE CRAFT NOW.

THEIR STORY HASN'T COME TO LIFE THAT MUCH IN THE PAST 30 YEARS SINCE THEIR DEATHS SO THE FACT THAT PEOPLE GET TO KNOW THIS WONDERFULLY CHARISMATIC COUPLE WHO CAN REALLY RELAY WHAT IT MEANS TO FALL IN LOVE WITH THE EARTH, THAT IS PARTICULARLY GRATIFYING FOR ME AND THE FACT THAT THEIR WORK IS GETTING THIS KIND OF RECOGNITION TODAY IS VERY MEANINGFUL.

>> THE FILM IS CALLED "FIRE OF LOVE ".

SARAH, THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME.