Isöken

Every winter for decades, the Northwest Territories, in the Canadian Far North, changes its face. While the landscape is covered with snow and lakes of a thick layer of ice, blocking land transport, ice roads are converted to frozen expanses as far as the eye can see.

How in 1959, during the heat of the Cold War, the government of the United States decided to create a secret military base located in the far north of Greenland: Camp Century, almost a real town with roads and houses, a nuclear plant to provide power and silos to house missiles aimed at the Soviet Union.

"Adrift" is shot on the arctic island of Spitzbergen and in Norway. It combines time-lapse photography with stop-motion animation of the landscape. Through camera-angles and framing the film gradually dislocates the viewer from a stable base where one loses the sense of scale and grounding.

Gombessa Expedition 3 Protected by an international treaty Antarctica has been spared the effects of hunting and fishing. But signs in ice’s cyclical patterns and its biodiversity have become worrying. Connected to the planet’s global ecosystem via atmospheric circulation and ocean currents, this white haven is suffering the effects of human activities. To document and explain what is unfolding in Antarctica, photographer, diver, and marine biologist Laurent Ballesta and photographer of extreme environments Vincent Munier will be blending their artistic perspectives of a rapidly changing continent. Laurent will tackle technical and human prowess below the ice to bear witness to its remarkable underwater life. His photographs will advance knowledge on Antarctica’s unique and little-known biodiversity. On land, his eye riveted to the lens of his camera, Vincent captures snapshots of life in an Emperor Penguin colony.

This documentary follows various migratory bird species on their long journeys from their summer homes to the equator and back, covering thousands of miles and navigating by the stars. These arduous treks are crucial for survival, seeking hospitable climates and food sources. Birds face numerous challenges, including crossing oceans and evading predators, illness, and injury. Although migrations are undertaken as a community, birds disperse into family units once they reach their destinations, and every continent is affected by these migrations, hosting migratory bird species at least part of the year.

Manish is a talented and athletic street dancer from Mumbai who dreams of becoming professional against the wishes of his struggling parents. He meets a curmudgeonly Israeli ballet master who gives him the determination to keep going. But when he is pitted against another boy who’s got the attention of the top school in the world, Manish realizes he must push himself to his physical limits if he has any chance to succeed.

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.

The climbing brothers Thomas and Alexander Huber (Germany) attempt to conquer free the infamous "Bavarian Direttissima" (upper tenth degree of difficulty) on the iconic Mt. Asgard on the Arctic Baffin Island (Canada). A 40 days expedition with polar bears, frostbite and climbing at the peril of their lifes.

Documentary about the work of Claude Lorius, who began studying Antarctic ice in 1957, and, in 1965, was the first scientist to be concerned about global warming.

Documentary on the Shackleton Antartic expedition. A retelling of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica in and the crew of his vessel 'The Endurance', which was trapped in the ice floes and frigid open ocean of the Antarctic in 1914. Shackleton decided, with many of his crew injured and weak from exposure and starvation, to take a team of his fittest men and attempt to find help. Setting out in appalling conditions with hopelessly inadequate equipment, they endured all weather and terrain and finally reached safety. Persuading a local team of his confidence that the abandoned team would still be alive, he set out again to find them. After almost 2 years trapped on the ice, all members of the crew were finally rescued.

Ice climbing in the Arctic Region of Norway.

The Transantarctic expedition led by the American Will Steger and the Frenchman Dr. Jean-Louis Étienne took place between July 1989 and March 1990. It was the first successful attempt to cross the entire extent of Antarctica without the use of motor power. Six men of various nationalities, including Viktor Boyarksy (Soviet Union), Geoff Somers (Great Britain), Qin Dahe (China) and Keizo Funatsu (Japan), crossed Antarctica from east to west for seven months on dog sleds pulled by 63 sled dogs, covering a total distance of 6,048 kilometers, with temperatures as low as minus 45 degrees Celsius and long-lasting storms. Their aim was to draw global attention to the continent's endangered future and the early signs of climate change. The documentary relives this great human adventure, which took more than three years from the first meeting of the participants to the final success.

Loïs Boisson : Résilience

Until 1992, Russia disposed of radioactive wastewater, radioactive waste and explosive nuclear waste in the Arctic Sea. And the ailing Northern Fleet was sunk here along with a no longer usable nuclear submarine. To this day it lies rusting on the bottom of the Arctic next to two other boats that have sunk in accidents, together with dangerous radioactive nuclear weapons. They form an atomic time bomb, even if official Russian authorities stubbornly deny an acute danger.

A photographic journey compiled from journals, archival footage and photographs of an Australian military photographer, Sir Hubert Wilkins in 1931 as he went from New York to the North Pole in an old WWI submarine to explore the Arctic Ocean. Included on dvd are a brief history of the submarine and photographic gallery of Wilkins.

A black-and-white visual meditation of wilderness and the elements. Wildlife filmmaker Richard Sidey returns to the triptych format for a cinematic experience like no other.

When the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise set sail in 2013 to protest the first ever oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, none of the people on board could have known what was coming. Seized at gunpoint by Russian special forces, the 'Arctic 30' were thrust into headlines all over the world, facing up to 15 years in prison and finding themselves at the centre of a bitter international dispute.

Shot mainly using spy cameras, this film gets closer than ever before to the world's greatest land predator. As the film captures its intimate portrait of polar bears' lives, it reveals how their intelligence and curiosity help them cope in a world of shrinking ice.

A new mother’s memories of her own youth prepare her to navigate motherhood in the increasingly challenging world that polar bears face today.

MERAKI follows, an ordinary man with an incredible dream, as he overcomes money hardships, skepticism, and personal challenges to build a 19ft boat and sail solo across the Atlantic, discovering strength and transformation along the way.