The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft

Synopsis

On 3 June 1991, a deadly cloud of hot gas and rock spewed out of Japan’s Mount Unzen. Among the 43 people consumed by it were scientist-filmmakers Maurice and Katia Krafft. They left behind over 200 hours of footage from their decades of work, which Herzog draws on for this stunning eulogy. From 1977’s La Soufrière through to 2016’s Into the Inferno, Herzog has long been fascinated by these violent natural events and his deeply personal voiceover is a fitting memorial to two people who gave their lives in the pursuit of both science and the pure cinematic image.
Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2022 - Memories - World premiere

Details

Year: 2022
Type of project: Features
Running time: 90 min
Director: Werner Herzog
Producer: Julien Dumont, Mandy Leith, Alexandre Soullier, Peter Lown
Editor: Marco Capalbo
Screenwriter: Werner Herzog
Director of Photography: Maurice Krafft, Henning Brummer
Sound: Marco Capalbo
Principal cast: Katia Krafft, Maurice Krafft
Archive Producer: Jess Winteringham

Genre

Climate / Environment Science

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Co-production France, United Kingdom, Switzerland, USA

Brian Leith Productions

Bonne Pioche Television
Titan Films

Sales Company

Abacus Media Rights

Visit Website

abacusmediarights.com

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

When legendary writer Bruce Chatwin was dying of AIDS, his friend Werner Herzog made a final visit. As a parting gift, Chatwin gave Herzog his rucksack. Thirty years later, Herzog sets out on his own journey, inspired by Chatwin’s passion for the nomadic life. Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2019 - Spotlight Documentary - World premiere

Invincible

Director: Werner Herzog

Year: 2001

Set in the 1930s, Invincible is based on the true story of a blond Jewish strongman who performed in Berlin as the Aryan hero Siegfried.

Allies in Exile

Director: Hasan Kattan

Year: 2026

For 14 years, Syrian filmmakers Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al-Halabi have journeyed together through war and storytelling. Their bond was forged on the frontlines of revolution where their cameras recorded terror and hope, laughter and heartbreak – moments that defined a generation. Years later, their story takes an unexpected turn. Confined inside a UK asylum hotel, Hasan and Fadi document a new chapter shaped not by bombs, but by waiting, bureaucracy, and exile. Amid rising anti-refugee hostility, they turn the camera inward exploring friendship and displacement and how filming itself becomes an act of survival when the future is so uncertain. Official Selection International Film Festival Rotterdam 2026 - World premiere

Human Rights