Colorado film producer doubles down on Oscars history | John Moore

Colorado film producer Shane Boris and the great Walt Disney have something in common that is true of no one else, ever.

On Jan. 24, Boris joined Disney as the only producers ever to be nominated for two different documentaries in the same Academy Awards season. Needless to say, he’s feeling a little daffy. (Yes, I went there.)

“I never make movies with the intention or the expectation of awards recognition,” Boris said. “It’s much deeper than that for me. It’s the satisfaction that comes from just having your film understood and received and knowing that it is resonating with people.”

Boris went to bed at 2 a.m. on the morning of Jan. 24 and woke up two hours later in Park City, Utah, where his latest film, “King Coal,” was being enthusiastically received at the Sundance Film Festival. Surrounded by all sorts of early worm friends, Boris learned that two important films he simultaneously helped nurture into existence have both been nominated by the Academy for Best Documentary: “Navalny” and “Fire of Love.” It was 5:30 in the morning.

No going back to sleep after that.

So what did it feel like to hear both of his eligible films named among the final five? It was, he said, a stunning experience, to put it mildly.

“It was like this wave of emotion just kind of rolled over me,” said Boris, a 2000 graduate of Colorado Academy. A wave best described as one of intense, crazy gratitude. “Gratitude for everyone I have ever met or ever talked to,” he said. “Gratitude for every good thing that has ever happened to me.”

“Navalny,” directed by Daniel Roher, focuses on the poisoned and imprisoned Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny. “Fire of Love,” directed by Sara Dosa, is a big-buzz doc about the daring French couple Katia and Maurice Krafft, who roamed the planet chasing and investigating volcanic eruptions – and ultimately died together in one. Boris loves both in different ways.

“I'm continuously inspired by Alexei's and (Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev’s) commitment to shining light in dark places,” he said. “They inspire us to stand up against autocrats and to stand up against authoritarianism wherever it rears its head.

“And one of the things that most inspires me about “Fire of Love” is Maurice and Katia’s quest for a greater understanding of the mysteries and existential uncertainties of life –  even though they know they'll never fully understand. And, on top of that, their love for each other and their love for the planet. When we love each other, and when we love the planet, we're more inclined to care for it and protect it. That's a really important part of what that film is trying to say.”

On Thursday, Boris announced that he will next adapt “Fire of Love” into a narrative feature film.

Boris might not yet be a household name in the entertainment world, but his film origin story is pretty legendary. It goes something like this: After graduating from Oberlin College in Ohio, Boris began a “Siddhartha”-like quest to find his true calling. He completed an internship with an environmental organization working on Indigenous land rights in Cordova, Alaska. Then he entered graduate school to study international relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. The year was 2005 – otherwise known as the year a sandwich changed his life.

When his flight out of Los Angeles was canceled, Boris watched as passengers berated a beleaguered airline gate agent who had no culpability in their disrupted travel. Boris responded by asking the clerk his name, buying him a sandwich and telling him that everything was going to be OK.

The agent – Ramon –  acknowledged the gesture by moving Boris up to business class. One row in front of a film producer who was heading to Southern India to produce a narrative film called “Before the Rains.” He let Boris read the script on the plane, and when they got off in Frankfurt, the grad student offered the producer his thoughts on the project. “One month later, I was on the set, informally walking around, learning the business,” he said.

After completing his master’s degree, Boris advised on a few independent films before fully jumping into producing. Some might think that a producer merely writes checks. (Some do.) But, for Boris, the producer finds the checks. The job also includes researching scripts, managing staff, supervising budgets and advising on all things from pre-production to filming to post-production to networking for distribution. In short, Boris does it all but hold the camera.

“I try to approach everything I do with as much humility and selflessness as possible,” he said. “I try not to impose my vision of what the film should be, but rather to really hear what the director and writer and other creators are trying to do – and find ways to bring that out. My job is to elevate their vision as much as possible.”

Boris lives part-time in Denver and California, but still thinks of Colorado as home. “I grew up in Colorado, and it’s been a big part of my life and identity,” said Boris, whose parents have lived in their same Greenwood Village home for 45 years. Boris has produced several Colorado-made films, including Alex Harvey’s “Walden: Life in the Woods” in 2017 and Mitch Dickman’s “Silent Rose,” which was filmed in and around Denver School of the Arts in 2020.

 “A lot of the people I grew up with were incredibly creative individuals who went on to become incredibly talented playwrights, actors, directors and musicians who deeply influenced me, and I am indebted to all of them,” he said.

Boris earned his first Academy Award nomination for “The Edge of Democracy” in 2020. But the Oscars aren’t quite old hat just yet, and he could do without some of the nonsense that comes with the territory.

“No, I have no idea what I am going to wear,” he said, ”but it’s not lost on me that this is a part of it all, and I do need to solve this problem.”

He chuckled when asked if he might be the most highly sought interview on the red carpet next Sunday. That made him recall a funny moment doing just that at the recent Producers Guild Association Awards. A random interviewer grabbed Boris and said something like: “That's so fantastic that you did a documentary! But what we really want to know is: How excited are you for Tom Cruise that he's getting an award tonight?” That would be the David O. Selznick Award. Boris can laugh because he also won an award that night – for “Navalny” as Best Documentary. 

The legit best thing about being nominated, he says, is the practical benefit, which is simply that a nomination means more people will have the opportunity to see each film.

“That’s it, 100 percent,” he said. “I think both of these films have something to say, and the nominations will amplify their messages. That part is very meaningful. And I am very grateful that by being nominated, they do become a part of cinema history.”

But the best thing about going to the Oscars ceremony, hands down, is that Boris will get to bring his parents as his guests.

He finds it supremely strange that he has a 40 percent chance of winning an Oscar – and that  he is in competition with himself. After all, “Navalny” won for Best Documentary at the PGAs and Britain’s BAFTA Awards, while “Fire of Love” won the Director’s Guild Award. Nevertheless, Gold Derby says the Oscars favorite is recent Denver Film Festival hit “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” a portrait of counterculture artist Nan Goldin’s pursuit of the Sackler family that inflicted Oxycontin – and the opioid crisis – onto the world.

Boris has received congratulations from around the world for his nominations, but perhaps the most meaningful response to date, he said, was from one of his father's best friends from college. “He told me that ‘Fire of Love’ not only changed his life but changed my father's life, too. And that it gave him a new excitement for life and a new optimism for the future. That felt pretty meaningful.”

Sounds like a win to me.

Note: “Fire of Love” is now streaming on Disney+, while “Navalny” is available on HBO Max.