Enjoy a day of films about Antarctica, including documentaries with rare footage from the historic expeditions of 1911, plus the modern hit March of the Penguins!
Get the complete program and read about the films here.
11 a.m.
March of the Penguins (US/2005/80 min/English). An instant classic, this Academy Award-winning documentary, narrated by Morgan Freeman, follows the incredible journeys taken by emperor penguins to care for their hatchlings on the Antarctic ice. (Directed by Luc Jacquet)
1 p.m.
The Great White Silence (UK/1924/106 min). This vintage 1924 silent film documentary on Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated trek to the South Pole features historic footage of the actual expedition, taken by Herbert Ponting, a legendary early photographer and filmmaker who traveled to Antarctica with Scott. Restored by the British Film Institute, and re-released in British theaters earlier this year, the film features an original music score by composer Simon Fisher Turner.
3 p.m.
Roald Amundsen’s South Pole Expedition 1910–1912 (Norway/2010/Silent film with English titles/21 min). Recently restored by the Norwegian Film Institute, this short film uses Amundsen’s own footage from his historic 1911 polar quest, presented with originally-composed piano music to tell the expedition’s story in its own images.
3:30 p.m.
Frozen Heart: A Film About Roald Amundsen (Norway/1999/English narration/90 min). This modern documentary probes beneath the surface of Amundsen’s heroic achievements to discover an ambitious, conflicted man who deceives women and betrays his own brother in order to achieve his goals, before dying heroically on a mission to save his worst enemy. Directed by Stig Andersen and Kenny Sanders.
Co-presented with the British Embassy and the Embassy of Norway. Presented in conjunction with the National Geographic Museum exhibition Race to the End of the Earth.