Werner Herzog's documentary on volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft

Werner Herzog's documentary 'The Fire Within. Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft' premiered at the 40th Torino Film Festival and awaits an Italian release date. The film uses over 200 hours of archive footage shot by the Kraffts over twenty years, documenting dramatic volcanic eruptions worldwide from Alaska to Indonesia, the Philippines, Colombia, Mexico, and Japan's Kyūshū island, where they died on June 3, 1991, while filming the Unzen volcano eruption. Herzog, following the model of 'Grizzly Man' (2005), provides only his distinctive voiceover in English, without adding his own footage. The editing highlights Maurice Krafft's evolution from amateur filmmaker to a conscious aesthetic style, less focused on scientific commentary and more on directorial sensitivity and anthropological interest. Herzog had personal access to the entire Krafft archive. The soundtrack includes Fauré's Requiem, Mexican melodies by Ana Gabriel, and Senegalese folk songs. Herzog's long-standing interest in volcanoes dates back to 1976 when he documented an eruption in Guadeloupe for 'La Soufrière', and continued with 'Into the Inferno' (2016). The Kraffts were also the subject of Sara Dosa's documentary 'Fire of Love' (produced by Disney-National Geographic), presented at the previous Trento Film Festival.