ICE AND THE SKY / La Glace et le ciel
Los Angeles Premiere • Documentary • France, 2015
DCP • 1.85 • Dolby 5.1 • Color/B&W • 90 min
Directed by: Luc Jacquet
Written by: Luc Jacquet
Cinematography: Stéphane Martin
Film Editing: Stéphane Mazalaigue
Original Score: Cyrille Aufort
Produced by: Richard Grandpierre (Eskwad)
Cast: Claude Lorius (Himself), Michel Papineschi (Narrator), Jacques-Yves Cousteau (Himself)
International Sales: Wild Bunch
US Distributor: Music Box Films • musicboxfilms.com
The writer/director of the Oscar-winning March of the Penguins is back, this time with a documentary suggesting that penguins should be very afraid, and they’re not the only ones. Part biography, part call-to-arms, this spectacular documentary celebrates the remarkable adventures and scientific discoveries of French polar explorer and glaciologist Claude Lorius. Sixty years ago, Lorius answered an ad that would take him on such a long expedition in remote Antarctica that his appendix and wisdom teeth had to be removed just as a precaution. Rare and stunning archival footage captures the hardships and wonders of his more than twenty expeditions since then. During these expeditions, Lorius conducted experiments that, for the first time. revealed to the world the cold hard facts about climate change. For Lorius, a man who literally risked his life in the quest for knowledge, it’s the climate change deniers who are walking on thin ice.
In 2005 Luc Jacquet charmed audiences all over the world with his smash hit documentary March of the Penguins. Taking home the Best Documentary Oscar® was an auspicious beginning to a career that happened almost by accident. With a background in animal biology and ecology, Jacquet took part in a research project in Antarctica. Although he had never used a camera before, part of his duties was to film the penguins. Since that time, he has always sought out subjects that bring together his love for nature and his fascination for film. His fiction feature, The Fox & the Child (2007) wove striking animal footage into a fairytale narrative. With his feature length doc, Once Upon a Forest (2013), Jacquet deployed breathtaking visuals to the world’s rainforests to reveal the secret life of trees. Ice and the Sky was selected as the closing film of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
QUOTES:
“…at once heartwarming, breathtaking and downright chilling.”
– Nicola Davis, The Guardian
“…an ode to the spirit of exploration and adventure.”
– Rob Aldam, Back Seat Mafia
“…a stirring, humanist portrait of a scientist dedicated to understanding and protecting the uncharted Antarctic.”
– Sean Gallen, The Upcoming
