Fire of Love

'Fire of Love', with narration by American writer Miranda July, is a hypnotic analysis of life on the edge of the abyss, in the fumes of smoke and lava at 1,200 degrees Celsius.

The credits at the beginning of Fire of Love feature volcanoes with their poetic and simultaneously menacing names. It's a deliberate treatment, as this film is a true love story about an unusual love triangle involving French couple Katya and Maurice Krafft and the volcanoes they worship. The couple claimed to be together in part precisely because of their shared love of volcanoes.

For a quarter of a century they travelled to all the volcanoes they could find on the planet, becoming the world's most famous and ardent volcanologists. They also died together—during a volcanic eruption in Japan in 1991. Their passion resulted in a huge archive of fascinating photographs and films about these unusual and mysterious places on Earth. The Kraffts wanted to document them up close. Maurice had already undergone a 'baptism' at the age of twenty-something, steaming his leg in lava. He also took an extremely risky dinghy trip across a volcanic lake full of caustic sulphur. The Kraffts created their own categorisation of volcanoes, which they divided into red (with lava) and grey (without lava). For them, each had its own distinct and unique personality. 'Once you see a volcanic eruption, you can't get away from it anymore,' explained Katya.