As a child, Sara Dosa was taught to never be “bored.”
Her mother used to tell her that the world is too interesting to be bored. The words sparked a curiosity in Dosa that never faded. She grew up with an interest in exploring and often found beauty in the interconnectedness of nature.
Her eye for finding the whimsical wonders of the world led her to the film industry. Now, Dosa has won a Peabody for her work, and her latest film, “Fire of Love,” is nominated in the best documentary category at the 2023 Academy Awards.
“I’m in awe of the power of nature, and so inspired by people who find unique relationships with the natural world,” she said. “I think by centering the interconnectivity of all life on the planet through storytelling, that to me, is a form of advocacy.”
On this episode of “LA Stories with Giselle Fernandez,” Dosa opens up about her rise in the film industry.
As a young woman starting out, she often faced sexism on set. She remembers one incident where she says she was told to sit down so the team had something sweet to look at. It was moments like this that made Dosa questioned her decision to pursue a career in film, but once she found allies and mentors who supported her, her career took off.
Tapping into her curiosity for nature, she directed documentaries like ”The Seer and the Unseen” — a film about an Icelandic woman’s quest to save the unseen elves living in the cliffs — and “The Last Season,” about the unlikely bond created between two men over mushroom foraging.
“That coming through in nature, I think, helps me to see perhaps a feeling of connectedness while in nature, and between people, too,” she said. “I’m hopeful that people can feel that sentience and power of nature in a way that will spark a care or an empathy for it.”
Dosa’s latest documentary, “Fire of Love,” continues her quest to highlight the relationships between people and nature. A frontrunner for the Oscar win, the film follows a daring French volcanologist couple named Katia and Maurice Krafft, who studied volcanoes around the world and loved them almost as much as they loved each other. Ultimately, it would be a volcano that would take their lives in 1991.
Through the use of the couple’s own archival footage of exploding volcanoes and burning lava, Dosa shares their remarkable love story.
“Katia and Maurice just lived their life in such a spectacularly unique way, and that radiates through the images that they captured,” she said. “They really decided to dedicate their lives to capturing the imagery, a volcanic activity, but also in an effort to understand the mysteries of our planet.”
Watch “LA Stories with Giselle Fernandez” at 9 p.m. every Monday on Spectrum News 1.