Last night I attended a showing of the documentary film "Chasing Ice" at the Boulder Int'l Film Festival. Despite the high ticket price I wanted to see this film, in part because many of the folks in it are people I work with personally, and on a couple of occasions I've met the film's main subject... James Balog, a National Geographic photographer who envisioned the Extreme Ice Survey project and has made it one of the most compelling and telling stories of climate in the world today.
Long story short, it's an extraordinary film... equal parts science, adventure and personal struggle. It just won the 2012 Documentary award at the Sundance Film Festival a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure when it will be released to broader theatres yet, but I highly recommend it to anyone, regardless of your proclivities on the larger subject matter.
I couldn't find a direct trailer, but here's a chat with the (surprisingly young) Director, Jeff Orlowski (when the film was accepted to Sundance, before recently winning there):
Neither of the trailers above show even a fraction of the telling and beautiful imagery in the film. I highly recommend when it's out in broader theaters, go see it!
- Mike
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I'd like to see the film, but unless it becomes available on the Internet, I suspect it will be a long while before it's shown in my area. Quite a project nonetheless.
I don't think so, but it would really be something on an IMAX screen. Barbara and I were commenting on that last night, it's the perfect kind of project for IMAX. One of the final scenes (watching a lower-Manhattan size chunk of ice break off the Jakobshavn Glacier in Greenland, the largest such calving event ever caught on film) is breathtaking on the regular big-screen, it'd be astronomical on an IMAX screen.
Travis, I honestly have little idea when it'll be available or in what formats. It's not even released in theaters, much less making its way through the internet just yet. I plan to pick it up on DVD when available... if I see it online anywhere down the line, I'll be sure to bump the thread.
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That's perfect. There couldn't be a better organization than National Geographic for handling the distribution and post-production of that film. IMO anyway. And it sounds like it'll likely end up on TV after all, Travis.
A bit more, from the link above:
QUOTE
When acclaimed photographer James Balog asked, “How can one take a picture of climate change?” his attention was immediately drawn to ice. Soon he was asked to do a cover story for National Geographic on glaciers that became “the most popular and well-read piece in the magazine during the last five years” according to Editor Dennis Dimick. But for Balog, that story marked the beginning of a much larger and longer-term project that would reach epic proportions.
The documentary, which Harry Potter director and producer Chris Columbus has called “the most important film of the year,” follows Balog to the Arctic as he attempts to capture images of the Earth's changing climate.
“This has been a passion project for the entire team for the past 5 years, and to announce this deal following our premiere at Sundance is a dream come true,” said director Jeff Orlowski. “We’re so glad that National Geographic is joining our team and helping to shine a light on James’s powerful imagery.
In this breathtakingly beautiful documentary, filmmaker Orlowski follows the indomitable photographer as he brings to life the Extreme Ice Survey (EIS)—a massive photography project that placed 30 time-lapse cameras across three continents to gather visual evidence of the Earth’s melting ice. Chasing Ice tells the story of a visionary artist who, in facing his own mortality, bequeaths the magic of photography and the adventure of the expedition to a new generation and captures the most visible sign of climate change on the planet today.
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Yeah, in the terminal shuttles, it's been there a number of years.
Their imagery hasn't been updated there in quite some time though, and the video equipment there isn't very good. I still highly suggest seeing the film.
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A new trailer for the film, being released to broader audiences soon. I still highly recommend it, even if just for the visual feast, if not for the broader message.
Would love to see it. As my wife has said about similar films, stories, and experiences in the past "It's beautiful to look at, but depressing to hear what they say [about the environment]."
An interview with the film's subject, Jim Balog, on a recent episode of the Bill Moyers show. He gets into the reasons for the project and explains some of the questions and motivations behind it:
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Unfortunately the showing isn't very broad yet (certainly nothing compared to Hollywood crap like "Gone Fishing" and "Here comes the Boom"). However, if you'd like to request a screening in your area, go to this link and submit a request. The Chasing Ice producers can ask local theaters to show it if they can prove there's a local demand for it. Or even better yet, call your local theater yourself and ask them to show it.
Here's the trailer (finally found a forum-compatible version on Vimeo):
The awareness seems urgent to me, being a glaciologist myself. We're planning another field campaign right now to go back to Greenland next Spring. Our team is having internal debates about logistics and instrumentation, since everything is changing so damned fast that none of our old safe-assumptions are held anymore, and our stuff can hardly keep up. The Air National Guard Hercules planes we're trying to rely upon may not be able to extract our team if--like last year--the surface ice is so slushy at Spring's end that the plane can't land and take off (used to never be a problem, but it took us 13 take-off attempts last year because the snow was slushy when it "should" have still been frozen solid). It's accelerating, alarmingly, and people should know about it. This movie has a greater potential to inform people than anything else I know (as most folks don't keep up with the week-to-week scientific journal papers).
Anyhoo, just a heads-up.
- Mike
-------------- Wealth needs more. Happiness needs less. Simplify.
Very cool, it's here in DC. Looks like I've got a movie to see.
I think it's only here for a week. I've got to get on the stick. (OOC)
The Chasing Ice site doesn't list specific showtimes, and there's a decent chance that they might not have the full schedules updated for each theater. If you're interested in seeing it you'd do well to call the theater to see what dates and times the show is playing.
I plan to see it again on Sunday Dec. 2 when it's screening at the AGU (American Geophysical Union) conference in San Francisco. Jim Balog and others from the movie will be there for a Q & A after the screening, which should be nice.
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GB, thanks for the heads-up. I love these kind of shows. I always watch the Warren Miller shows on TV.
-------------- “He who knows the most, he who knows what sweets and virtues are in the ground, the waters, the plants, the heavens and how to come at these enchantments, is the rich and royal man” -- from Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Very cool, it's here in DC. Looks like I've got a movie to see.
I think it's only here for a week. I've got to get on the stick. (OOC)
The Chasing Ice site doesn't list specific showtimes, and there's a decent chance that they might not have the full schedules updated for each theater. If you're interested in seeing it you'd do well to call the theater to see what dates and times the show is playing.
I plan to see it again on Sunday Dec. 2 when it's screening at the AGU (American Geophysical Union) conference in San Francisco. Jim Balog and others from the movie will be there for a Q & A after the screening, which should be nice.
Mike, is that showing at the AGU going to be open to non-members? I'd like to see it. But in any case I'll send the DH, even if I can't go.
Don't forget to get hold of us when you hit town! I think your AGU overlaps with my CSBA conference, also downtown SF (Moscone Center).
-------------- Bits of writerly thoughts and random short fiction found at The Ninja Librarian Blog
Mike, is that showing at the AGU going to be open to non-members? I'd like to see it. But in any case I'll send the DH, even if I can't go.
Don't forget to get hold of us when you hit town! I think your AGU overlaps with my CSBA conference, also downtown SF (Moscone Center).
The showing is for conference attendees only, but I could probably score you a guest pass for the conference if you're interested (guest passes aren't free though, unfortunately). That would get you in.
What dates are your conference? AGU is in the Moscone Center as well... Dec 2-7th. If we're wandering around the same complex of buildings, we should definitely meet up for lunch (at least).
-------------- Wealth needs more. Happiness needs less. Simplify.
There couldn't be a better organization than National Geographic for handling the distribution and post-production of that film. IMO anyway. And it sounds like it'll likely end up on TV after all, Travis.
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