Chasing Ice

Chasing Ice

Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - 7:00pm to 8:30pm
  • Library Hall

Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of climate change. Using time-lapse cameras, his videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate.

WINNER! More than 30 awards at film festivals around the world, including the Excellence in Cinematography Award at Sundance, the Audience Award at Hot Docs and The Environmental Media Association’s 22nd Annual Best Documentary Award.

“You’ve never seen images like this before… It deserves to be seen and felt on the big screen.” - Robert Redford

“Stunning…Timely…A solitary quest with global implications.” [A Critics' Pick] - Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times

“Visually breathtaking.” - Justin Chang, Variety

“The smoking gun on climate change.”  - Robert F Kennedy Jr.

“The Climate Change debate is over.” - Greg Reitman, Huffington Post

About the film
In the spring of 2005, acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment for National Geographic: to capture images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate. Even with a scientific upbringing, Balog had been a skeptic about climate change. But that first trip north opened his eyes to the biggest story in human history and sparked a challenge within him that would put his career and his very well-being at risk.

Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.

As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Balog finds himself at the end of his tether. Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.

Run time: 75 min.

James Balog's book
James Balog's stunning coffee table book ICE: Portraits of Vanishing Glaciers is in the Bud Werner Memorial Library collection and available for check out. It will be on display during the film screening.