27 Aug 2019

World's Coolest Film Festival Comes to Christchurch

The big chill that is The Explorers Club Polar Film Festival is bringing its frosty fare to Christchurch for the first time this year.

The annual film festival is celebrating its seventh year by screening a curated collection of polar themed cinema outside of New York for the first time - including Lumière Cinemas at the Arts Centre and the Hollywood Theatre in Sumner on September 8, 14 and 15.

Christchurch polar enthusiasts have the opportunity to catch eight films including:

Admiral Byrd's Dogs: From The Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, this film features footage from the 1933 Byrd Antarctic Expeditions.

Ice Alive: Joseph Cook takes a closer look at the microbial life that can be found all over the planet's glaciers and ice sheets.

Past Ice/Future Ice: A fact-packed science film journey to David Glacier, Antarctica which frames modern ice changes in a historical context and informs predictions of the future Antarctic Ice Sheet and global sea level.

The Traverse: Follow the SALSA (Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access) Traverse team as they use specialised tractors to haul roughly 1,000,000 lbs of science equipment across 600 miles of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

The Sacred Place Where Life Begins: Defending the Arctic Refuge: Documenting an expedition through Gwinch'in lands assessing the impact of Arctic drilling on the people and animals.

Mt. Scott: The Antarcitc Heritage Trust Inspiring Explorers set off to Climb Mt. Scott.

Three Thousand: Inuk artist Asinnajaq plunges us into a sublime imaginary universe - luminescent, archive-inspired cinema that recasts the past, present and future of Inuit in a radiant new light. 

Rise: Two indigenous poets - one from the Marshall Islands and another from Greenland - meet at the source of our rising seas to share a moment of solidarity. 

Find out more here.

Image: The Traverse