After the Blizzard

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

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Steep traces the legacy of extreme skiing from its early pioneers to the daredevils of today.

A documentary of an expedition to Churchill, Manitoba to film the Northern Lights.

In the northern hemisphere, snow is produced by atmospheric low pressure areas that move in from the western Atlantic in the form of huge cloud masses. Snow is vital to the balance of mountain ecosystems. Many animal and plant species at high altitudes depend on it for their survival. But due to global warming, snow is falling less and less. Will there be no more snow in the future? In the Alps and eastern US the situation is clear: as temperatures rise, snow falls less and less, and snow periods tend to shorten. This threatens the mountain flora and fauna. What future do the marmots or alpine bells have without a heat-insulating layer of snow? What future do the marmots or alpine bells have without a heat-insulating layer of snow? What will happen to the conifers in North America without the annual frost protection? Research teams are looking at the implications for snow-adapted species. The documentation shows animal mountain dwellers, who hope for the long-awaited snow every winter.

In the beginning the idea was to make something from nothing, in a neutral and unknown place. Collect images and sounds instead of producing them. The camera, the microphone and the mini-amplifier: tools that take away and then give back. We defined a rule: the sound shouldn't illustrate the image and the image shouldn't absorb the sound. Less than a hundred kilometres from Reykjavik we found Strokkur. For three days we saw and heard the internal dynamics of the crevice: the boiling water that spat out every seven minutes and the thermal shock, given the eighteen degrees below zero of the atmosphere.

Every year, thousands of Antarctica's emperor penguins make an astonishing journey to breed their young. They walk, marching day and night in single file 70 miles into the darkest, driest and coldest continent on Earth. This amazing, true-life tale is touched with humour and alive with thrills. Breathtaking photography captures the transcendent beauty and staggering drama of devoted parent penguins who, in the fierce polar winter, take turns guarding their egg and trekking to the ocean in search of food. Predators hunt them, storms lash them. But the safety of their adorable chicks makes it all worthwhile. So follow the leader... to adventure!!

American ski film pioneer Dick Barrymore pursues the white stuff in the mountains of Colorado, France, and Lebanon. Goofy events, nail-biting bloopers, and gorgeous powder skiing ensue. Starring Jean-Claude Killy, Beth Annabel, John Burnett, and Bob Burns.

Six fearless surfers travel to the north coast of Iceland to ride waves unlike anything they've ever experienced, captured with high-tech cameras.

It is winter at an emergency shelter for the homeless in Lausanne. Every night at the door of this little-known basement facility the same entry ritual takes place, resulting in confrontations which can sometimes turn violent. Those on duty at the shelter have the difficult task of “triaging the poor”: the women and children first, then the men. Although the total capacity at the shelter is 100, only 50 “chosen ones” will be admitted inside and granted a warm meal and a bed. The others know it will be a long night.

There are as many paths as there are people. Some choose to be carpet salesman, others choose to be skiers. These behaviors are part of life's routine, and consciously or not, we're all slaves to it somehow. But you can't have the result without the process- you must get up to go down. Let this be your field guide to the minutia, the frivolities and of course the addiction to pure, uncut, freedom. Go ahead, scratch that itch. Because after all, we are creatures of HABIT.

Go out into the world, they say… see it for yourself! But in an age where any destination is in the palm of your hand- just a click away, what is left to truly explore? Level 1 examines the universal dialect of moving down snow on two feet through a lens of fresh perspective- documenting the outer niches of a sport pushed under the rug by the modern day ski zeitgeist. From the secret valleys of Switzerland, the ancient cities of Estonia, to the rowdy rope-tows of Minnesota- follow us around the globe as we capture skiing in its purest form. It’s a Small World, after all.

In the center of the story is the life of the indigenous people of the village Bakhtia at the river Yenisei in the Siberian Taiga. The camera follows the protagonists in the village over a period of a year. The natives, whose daily routines have barely changed over the last centuries, keep living their lives according to their own cultural traditions.

The beauty of the Arctic is breathtaking. For as long as we can remember, the Arctic has been associated with inhospitable cold. But the climate is changing, and with it the northern polar region, which begins beyond latitude 66.5 degrees north. Climate change is now happening four times faster north of the Arctic Circle than on the rest of the planet, making the future outlook dire. At the moment it is still possible for polar bears to raise their cubs, but hunting is becoming increasingly difficult on the drastically shrinking pack ice. The disappearance of the ice also affects the marine fauna. The wintry ice bridge between Canada and Greenland is threatened with collapse. The unstoppable melting of the permafrost, which has held the tundra together for thousands of years, is worrying. But the Arctic is still one of the wildest and loveliest regions on earth. A documentary visit to the Arctic - as long as it still exists.

Filmed in 1987, this documentary chronicles the journey of Via Rail's The Canadian as it makes its way across Canada.

FULLSTERKUR is the third documentary in a collection of films produced by Rogue Fitness, exploring strength culture around the world, connected specifically by the ancient tradition of stone lifting. Nestled at the doorstep of the Arctic Circle, the country of Iceland is uniquely acquainted with the relationship between strength and survival. For hundreds of years, men and women were challenged to overcome harsh weather and endless winter nights by developing their own distinct physical and mental fortitude—passed down from the age of the Vikings, and iconically represented by the lifting of heavy stones. Today, on an island with a population of just over 300,000, a disproportionate number of the world’s greatest strength athletes still call Iceland home.

As a winter storm approaches the shallow water crystallizes, ice builds up along the edges of a stream, and the first snowflakes of the storm layer over the newly formed ice. The following morning a soft light approaches through the snow covered forest.

Sunlight in a winter forest.

Intercuts scenes from Jack London's To build a fire with modern urban and rural winter scenes to point out the dangers of winter storms and low temperatures. Designed to stimulate discussion on civil preparedness for winter storms.

A poetic view into the relationship of immensity between man and landscape. We contemplate, from the distance, the activity of the skiers on the snowy mountain. The pictorial image and the dark and dreamlike atmosphere transforms the space into something unreal, imprecise, converting it also in a spectral presence.