True/False Highlights: Fire of Love and I Didn’t See You There

The world of documentary filmmaking is vast and diverse. As seen in the last True/False highlights, the festival ranges from topics of socioeconomic status to intimate domestic scenes. And while Let The Little Light Shine (2022) and Sirens (2022) have a similar tone, the next two films that made a buzz during the weekend could not be more different. An explosive love story told through 16mm found footage to a personal story about living with disabilities captured the attention of audiences from March, 3rd-6th 2022 as they made their debut right here in Columbia, MO.

Fire of Love

Blisteringly hot lava bursts from the crust to carve radiant rivers down the mountainside. Nearby, a couple of volcanologists dare to get a better look with their 16mm camera. This footage finally ends up in the hands of director Sara Dosa, who sees a vision of a stunning documentary recounting their love and their lives. Fire of Love (2021) is the film that was born from the ashes of Katia and Maurice Krafft’s life. Just like Rita Bagdahdi’s film – Sirens (2022) – Dosa’s film premiered earlier this year at Sundance. After True/False the film will screen at South by Southwest and then it will go on touring internationally. Fire of Love’s success is due in part to National Geographic, who picked it up at Sundance only three days after its initial screening. If that isn’t enough to interest then the actual plot definitely will.

One of the Krafft’s on their Research Trips

Joined by their love for volcanoes, Katia and Maurice Krafft traveled all over the world to document every volcanic eruption they could. They’d go out for months at a time to get footage and then come home to edit them and distribute them for educational benefit. Together and separately they were the most charming – and possibly the only – volcanologist couple. The Kraffts dedicated their lives to educating, studying, and predicting eruptions. Their research saved thousands of lives, but eventually, it took their own. This is one of the most intriguing things about Fire of Love. The film starts by introducing the audience to the couple and establishing their personalities and then they die. Now the shocking part isn’t that they die – anyone with access to Google could figure that out in a few seconds – but rather it’s how they die and how the film works backward from this point.

In 1991 on the island of Japan, the Kraffts went on their final journey to Mount Unzen. Although only a few minutes into the film and no strong connection is made between the subjects and the audience, we still feel the devastation wrought on by this loss. The leading experts in volcanos giving their lives to save countless others in the future bring on an immense sadness, yet also a sense of pride. A story filled with romance and comedy matched with stunning visuals of molten lava whisks audiences away as they too fall in love with volcanos.

I Didn’t See You There

Roaming around the city. Going over crumbling pavement, accessing buildings, or even crossing the street are just some of the things non-disabled people don’t think twice of. Narratives after narratives have been published or produced to either fetishize or discriminate against people with disabilities. These works have cultivated a world that doesn’t understand ableism and sometimes outright denies any problem. Reid Davenport’s new film I Didn’t See You There (2022) brings viewers into his perspective by showing what he sees, but never fully seeing him. In his personal statement, Davenport talks about his motivation behind the film as it is “two-fold,” the first being to jar audiences with the images on screen that he has filmed. The second is to “unequivocally rebuke the norm of disabled people being seen and not heard.”

Director Reid Davenport with the Circus Tent Looming Behind him

Seeing someone else's perspective of the world is one of the main things’ documentaries aim to do. And Davenport’s view of the world is one mainstream viewers rarely – if ever – get to see. I Didn’t See You There is a deeply thought-provoking, intimate, and extremely raw piece. This film – like Kevin Shaw’s Let the Little Light Shine (2022) – leaves audiences itching to help make a difference. While some are “simple” or “easy” fixes, most are deeply rooted in an inherently ableist system. Davenport touches on this as the sudden construction of a circus tent starts outside his apartment. He uses this as a vehicle to discuss the impact that P.T. Barnum had – and continues to have – on the disabled community. As shown in Davenport’s film, Barnum’s legacy haunts disabled people as they go about their daily lives. From people outright gawking to being utterly oblivious to their feelings and needs, I Didn’t See You There brings forth a new wave of discussion surrounding sensitivity towards those with disabilities.