Chasing Ice 2012

Science and art confront awesome nature in this stunning giant screen account of National Geographic photographer James Balog’s painstaking (and dangerous) Extreme Ice Survey project. Capturing time-lapse photographs of numerous glaciers over several years, Balog assembles all the evidence anyone should ever need of the radical worldwide impact of climate change. — BG

“Featuring breathtaking displays of remote and beautiful landscapes that may never be seen again by human – or any – eyes, Chasing Ice chronicles the quest of photographer James Balog… Like many, Balog was initially sceptical of the existence of climate change. But, after researching the changing state of the Earth’s melting glaciers and then witnessing those changes firsthand through field studies, Balog became convinced of the realities and consequences of climate crisis. He then set out to record the ever-changing landscapes of the world’s glacial terrain, with a photographer’s eye for majestic vistas and incredible places.

Filmmaker Jeff Orlowski observes the painstaking and obsessive methods Balog uses to capture images that serve both as valuable topographic documents and as uniquely beautiful contemplations of ice and water. In the process, [he] also captures some of the most mind-blowing motion images one could wish to see, including the calving and sinking of a gargantuan glacier into the fjord and beautiful ice rivers called moulins carving deeply into arctic mountains. Celebrating the Earth’s natural beauty while simultaneously serving as an environmental clarion call, Chasing Ice is a stunning and important document of our world in transition.” — San Francisco International Film Festival