Antzworks,
Anthony Powell, Genevieve Bachman, William Brotman, Michael Christiansen, Tom Hamann, George Lampman, Peter Lund, Keri Nelson, Casey O’Brien, Christine Powell, David Prutsman, Josh Swanson, Andrew Velman,
This documentary by Anthony Powell documents an entire year in Antarctica and the problems and adventures there as well as the benefits and difficulties in doing it. Basically Anthony just turned the camera on himself and the poor souls who stayed there with him. They are scientists who investigate and learn what they can from the southernmost point on the Earth. Most of the people do all the work in the very brief summer that they have, and then go home before the bad weather hits, but someone must stay and mind the store, collect data, and guard the post through the long dark winter. The sun never rises for months, and temperatures of 40 below and hurricane winds are the norm here. Besides the ultimate cold, the bad weather, and the darkness, the challenge of being cooped up in a small building with very little interaction is difficult. It’s possible to go stir crazy in there if you don’t take precautions. It’s a long cold lonely winter, but the team finds ways to keep their spirits up. Mixed with excellent and beautiful photography, including some stunning time lapse segments, plus a plethora of scientific information, I was really interested in this documentary. We get to know the people without the drama and their acting for the camera and after the feature length film you’ll feel like you know these people a bit better. One particular scene broke my heart and it involved a seal that wandered into the camp. I have been pondering since I saw this film about that moment and why they do what they do, but I haven’t found an answer. You’ll know what it is about when you see it. I have seen a lot of Mt. Everest documentaries, and some previously on Antarctica or the Arctic Circle, but this one has a wealth of information on what the day to day life is liked cooped up in an igloo basically. It goes a bit deeper than the typical IMAX adventure, and is filled with information of all kinds. I recommend this documentary if you are interested in the subzero climate of the coldest place on earth. It’s well done.
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