Frozen: No Princesses Allowed

What’s it like to live year-round on the world’s coldest, loneliest continent? Well, as seen through the eyes of New Zealand photographer and director Anthony Powell, life in Antarctica is surprisingly good.

In what feels like a clever twist, Antarctica: A Year on Ice (released last month) is not your run-of-the-mill nature film. Instead of focusing on the cute penguins and cuddly looking seals of the far, far south, Powell fixes his camera on the hardy and quirky folks who choose to live and work there—even during the long, dark, freezing winter. And by “freezing,” we’re talking the -40 degrees Fahrenheit variety.

In the film, fascinating personal stories are juxtaposed with dramatic cinematography that captures a mind-blowing, eye-popping setting.

Powell, a longtime Antarctica radio technician, shot the film over a 10-year period in and around the McMurdo Station research base located at about 800 miles from the South Pole. The time-lapse photography shot on equipment he designed is especially dazzling.

The film doesn’t dwell on the serious threat climate change poses to Antarctica—but it’s a worry that weighs heavily on the minds of its residents. Not unrelated, the hunt for fossil fuels also jeopardizes the magic of McMurdo—and the rest of our most pristine continent, too. 

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