Description

"Highly Recommended! This film shows the drudgery and discomfort of field work as well as the intermittent rare moments of exhilarating discovery."
—Gloria Maxwell, Educational Media Reviews Online

"The movie... gives viewers a glimpse of a side of science that is rarely seen."
—Edyta Zielinska, Scientist.com

"I have seen hundreds of science films, and ICE PEOPLE is unique in the way it portrays what it's really like to do field science. This is some of the best cinematography I've ever seen of the Dry Valleys."
—Tom Wagner, Program Director for Antarctic Earth Sciences, U.S. National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs

"The movie is art... [It] takes me to Antarctica in as unfiltered a way as a mediated experience can do. "
—Guy Guthridge, Former head of the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program

"ICE PEOPLE brought it all back to me - the heart-stopping landscapes, the grueling commitment of a polar science camp, and, above all, the ineffable mystery of the beautiful south. I recommend this film to anyone who ever wondered what it`s actually like in the Antarctic."
—Sara Wheeler, Author, Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica

"I wanted to congratulate you for your film Ice People! I especially enjoyed… the interviews with Adam Lewis and the McMurdo staff members, and those breathtaking aerial shots from the helicopter!"
—Marìa de Oca, Graduate student in Marine Science and Film Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

"Highly recommended!"
—Jennifer Merin, About.com Guide to Documentaries

"... intriguing... staggeringly beautiful..."
—Dennis Harvey, Variety

Unique in the genre of exploration and adventure films, Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Anne Aghion takes you on one of the earth's most seductive journeys-Antarctica.

ICE PEOPLE heads out into the "deep field" with noted geologists Allan Ashworth and Adam Lewis, and two undergrad scientists-in-the-making, where they scour across hundreds of miles to find tiny, critical signs of ancient life.

During the film's production, the scientific team uncover the freeze-dried remains of plants, insects, and crustaceans alongside volcanic ash-evidence of an ancient tundra lost to a shift in the continent's climate some 14 million years ago. Learn more about their important discoveries and find out what it's like to leave the world behind in pursuit of science-and to capture that experience on film!

Cast

Featuring Dr. Allan Ashworth, Dr. Adam R. Lewis (North Dakota State University), Kelly Gorz & Andrew Podoll

Festivals

2008 Vancouver International Film Festival
2008 San Francisco International Film Festival
2008 Jerusalem International Film Festival
2008 Scinema Festival

Production Credits & Notes

Directed by Anne Aghion
Produced by Benoît Gryspeerdt & Anne Aghion
Edited by Nadia Ben Rachid
Cinematography by Sylvestre Guidi
Sound Recording by Richard Fleming
Original score by Laurent Petitgand
Sound Design by Roland Duboué & Béatrice Wick
Sound Mix by Nathalie Vidal

A co-production of Dry Valleys Productions, ARTE France, and ITVS International, in association with Sundance Channel.

Produced with a grant from the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, with major support from the European Commission Directorate General for Research. Additional support from the Centre National de la Cinématographie, the Conseil Régional de la Région Rhône-Alpes, the Conseil Général de l'Ardèche, the SACEM, RTBF (Belgian Television) & SBS (Australia). Developed under the auspices of Eurodoc, with funding from the Media Program's New Talent fund of the European Commission.