 A once-in-a-lifetime journey with Antarctica's 21st century explorers |
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updates & screeningsMID-JULY 2008: EARLY JULY 2008: JUNE 2008: MAY 2008: APRIL 2008:
If you have friends or colleagues in the Bay Area, please spread the news!
FEBRUARY: On the occasion of New York International Polar Weekend, Anne was interviewed on NPR’s Weekend America. Listen to the interview. JANUARY:
END OF MAY 2007: The editing is in full swing, and the film is taking shape. We'll post some short clips soon, so check back with us regularly. Also, Filmmaker Magazine published a great story on Ice People. Here's the full story from Filmmaker Magazine. MID-MAY: ICE PEOPLE is going to be the title of the film! Everyone agrees it's a great title! Stay tuned for more news! EARLIER IN MAY: I just received these photos a couple of days ago from Helen in Antarctica. Anthony Powell aka Antz took the pictures. Down there, it's now the dead of winter and the auroras are in full swing. When we were in McMurdo in August and September, there was still enough night for auroras to be visible, and we tried several times to sight them in McMurdo, and also in Black Island, an outpost about thirty miles from McMurdo where there is no light pollution. I did see a couple of very mild auroras, but nothing like this. These are spectacular - and Antz is the master of aurora photography! He's been spending winters in MacMurdo for a few years now as a telecommunications specialist, and will actually be going back to the Ice in October as part of the same program we were down on: the NSF Antarctic Artists and Writers program. You can see more of Antz's work by clicking here.
END OF MARCH:
I’ve just gotten back from New York where the presentations at the American Museum of Natural History last weekend were a great success! Lots of people showed up – children who were very curious and asked great questions, and adults.
It’s a bit like what the geologists have to go through – after a field season on the Ice, they have several thousand pounds of rock samples. They analyse some of these samples to find DNA, scrutinize their fossils under a microscope looking for clues that can’t be seen with the naked eye, and process their volcanic ash to date their finds. With this, they can piece together the story of the landscape and the climate many millions of years ago. Nadia is keeping a journal of our time in the editing room, and we might post some entries every once in a while as we go along. New Yorkers should mark their calendars for Saturday and Sunday March 10 & 11. Anne will show a clip of the film and talk about the shoot at the official New York launch of the International Polar Year (IPY) at the American Museum of Natural History. There'll be many events from Noon to 5:00 pm on both days. Anne is scheduled to talk at the Linder Theater at 3:00 pm on Saturday and 1:00 pm on Sunday (same location). We'll keep you informed as soon as we know more.
In the mailbox, I found some new photos that Adam Lewis sent. One of them (above, photo by Adam Lewis), shows Rich, Sylvestre and me (Anne) on a hike in the Asgard Range. Staring at this photo allows me to focus on the breadth of this whole experience. The re-entry emotions are really extraordinary, and range from a deep desire for involvement and connection to people and the world around me, and a very severe sense of detachment. Also, I realize I forgot to mention that a few days after I returned, I spoke with a reporter from The Scientist about the filming. The story came out just a few days ago, and you can read it by clicking here. It's short but she really got it." JANUARY 2007:
As I wrote the word ‘real’ a few sentences back, it occured to me that ‘real’ is the best word I’ve found to describe this whole experience. I think it was Rich who first came up with this catchy answer. I’ve adopted it and am grateful for it. As for the real world that I’m back in, well - in a way, since I’ve been back in New York, I feel like I’m in a daze, almost floating, a bit like the opposite of ‘real’. Also, New York was warm when I came back, very warm – 70°F on January 6th - and everyone has been asking me whether the ice has been melting in the Antarctic. I’ve had to answer that, in fact, for the first two months we were in McMurdo, and then at our first camp in the Olympus Range, the temperatures were 10 to 15°F colder than they normally are at that time of year. After that, I lost track. As the Austral winter faded and gave way to spring, we also got used to the cold. By the time we left our field camp to return to McMurdo in early December, it was mostly in the 20’s, perhaps peaking in the lower 30’s just below freezing, and it seemed to us like the height of summer. The sun felt so warm, I even had breakfast sitting on a box outside my tent one morning. As I continue to sort through photos, I’ll post some more on the site, and maybe write a few words. In a few weeks, I’ll start editing this film, and should be working on it for the better part of the upcoming year. I will rely on my editor, Nadia Ben Rachid, and Benoit Gryspeerdt, my co-producer, to help me find the right distance to reflect the real-ity of what we encountered, and to best tell the story of the people we spent time with at the bottom of the world.
You may not think this looks like Antarctica... But this is our office in Crary Lab on McMurdo station. Anne is seen here with Sylvestre, the Director of Photography. Rich is taking the picture. We're very lucky - we have a window with a view, not a luxury that everyone here enjoys. We look out on the sea ice with the Royal Society Range in the distance, and can watch the pastel hues - blue, pink, yellow - changing in the six or so hours of light we have every day. It's been a balmy -25°C, and we're finding our bearings.
We went out on the Ice for survival school - with Cece and Thai, the two mountaineers entrusted with our lives - for some 20 hours on September 1st. It was early in the season - very early - and cold - very cold. Almost everyone says this is the coldest night we'll experience.
At left is Sylvestre taking a scenic shot at dusk a week ago (it feels like a month ago). You can tell it's not too cold because his whole face is not covered. On the far right is Rich that same evening. In the center, hiding behind a shield of frosty hair and other furry hats, there's Anne with Cece and Thai. For that shot, it was cold! We welcome your thoughts and comments, so click here if you want to write something that you would like us to include on this site. Don't forget to check out Rich's blog, A Brooklynite on the Ice. There are many more photos and stories there. Photos: Richard Fleming, Sylvestre Guidi, Anne Aghion. |
| © 2008 Anne Aghion & Dry Valleys Productions. All Rights Reserved. No reproductions without written consent from Anne Aghion & Dry Valleys Productions. |
New Yorkers, mark your calendars, Feb 2 & Feb 3, 2008!
Check out this 
Now, I am back in the editing room with Nadia Ben Rachid (right). My favorite part of the filmmaking process is starting. Nadia and I will look at almost 200 hours of footage to find the 2 hours or so that will tell the story and end up in the film. I loved being in Antarctica and would go back at the drop of a hat, but editing is where I get to re-live through the whole process and work through all the footage and give shape to the film – all at the same time – and it’s a huge treat for me. It’s also really hard work.
I just returned from the Sundance Film Festival, where I met 
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