Director: Anne Aghion, Producer: Benoit Gryspeerdt
HD Video, 77'/54', English, 2008
Unique in the genre of exploration and adventure films, ICE PEOPLE takes you on to of the earth’s most seductive landscapes, Antarctica. Emmy-winning filmmaker Anne Aghion spent four months “on the ice” with modern-day polar explorers, to find out what drives dedicated researchers to leave the world behind in pursuit of science and to capture the true experience of living and working in this extreme environment.
The public focus on climate change has turned the shores of Antarctica into a new tourist mecca, making the earth’s coldest continent the hot place to be. But inland from the penguins and ice floes is a magical Antarctica of volcanoes, boulder-strewn valleys and ominous glaciers. Only a small number of scientific research teams get there, braving severe conditions to learn about our planet’s history and making predictions about our future along the way.
ICE PEOPLE heads out into the “deep field” with noted scientists Allan Ashworth, Adam Lewis and two undergrad scientists-in-the-making. The team scours across hundreds of miles to find tiny but critical signs of life from 20 million years old. The most authentic depiction of life on the ice ever put to film, ICE PEOPLE conveys the vast beauty, claustrophobia, excitement and stillness of an experience set to nature’s rhythm.
The Jerusalem Film Festival, Scinema Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, Rencontres Internationales Sciences et Cinémas, Fargo Film Festival
• NY Magazine – “Immersive. Mesmerizing”
• The New York Times - "Instantly compelling... Sticks in the mind."
• Time Out New York - "Majestically shot...the film is a uniquely meditative, psychological portrait of individuals who approach scientific exploration with the passion and fervor of artists."
http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/movies/01ice.html?scp=1&sq=aghion&st=cse
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2008711997_mr06ice.html
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2009-02-04/film/ice-people-where-s-werner
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/02/07/this_weekend_at_the_movies
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090207/LIVING/702079988
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