The North Face

Jan 30 | TNF Sustainability ambassador james balog on the continued success of feature film chasing ice

By The North Face

Whew! The wild ride continues. “Chasing Ice” continues to show to sellout crowds and standing ovations. The insight into climate change provided by the film has been inspiring and uplifting for the audience—and for those of us in the field and creative teams, seeing our handiwork on the big screen is FANTASTIC!

As of today, the film has shown seven times, with one more screening tomorrow. New friends, passionate about the cause and the art, grow out of every presentation. At one special screening for 350 high students, a poll showed that essentially ALL of them left the auditorium with a profound understanding of how real climate change is.

Hollywood Reporter gave us a terrific, thoughtful, well-written  review: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/chasing-ice-sundance-film-review-284913.

 

Team members left to right: Adam LeWinter, Dr. Tad Pfeffer, James Balog (with one of our time-lapse camera boxes), film director Jeff Orlowski, Svavar Jonatonsson.

To learn more about The North Face's sustainability efforts and ambassador James Balog please visit http://expeditionsustainability.com/

Jan 25 | James Balog :: "it looks like the world is hungry for a clear and compelling story about climate change"

By The North Face

 

It looks like the world is hungry for a clear and compelling story about climate change. 

 

"Chasing Ice," a 75-minute documentary about the Extreme Ice Survey, had its world premiere Monday night here at the Sundance Film Festival. The film reveals the immortal beauty of icy landscapes in Greenland, Alaska and Iceland at the same time it shows how fast they're being altered by climate change. 

 

27-year-old, first-time feature director Jeff Orlowski created the film. He is one incredibly tenacious, persevering guy--a truly extraordinary individual.

 

It was overwhelming...awe-inspiring...exhilarating...humbling to see and hear the passion in the audience's reaction. We had two standing ovations (Sundance regulars tell me that one standing ovation is rare and two are unprecedented). What a wild night! 

 

To give you a sense of the response, here are the very first press blurbs: 

 

"Chasing Ice is amazing. Definite Oscar contender for docs." Mina Hochberg / Outside Magazine & AM New York

 

“Beautiful and terrifying." Jad Yuan/New York magazine

 

“Amazing.  Wow. I'm so glad I came to this screening so I could hear the q and a.  It is very well done and powerful.” Jesse Hawthorne / San Francisco Bay Guardian

 

“It was really good. The debate about climate change is over.” Greg Reitman / The Environmentalist

 

“The doc really worked for me. It looks terrific and there's a solid character story as well.” Dan Feinberg / Hit Fix

 

“It is incredible.  It is such an important film.  I'm going to tell everyone about it.” Gilda Brasch/IDA

 

“An amazing film.” Kim Voynar/ Movie City News

 

One of Sundance's lead festival programmers told me "This is the climate change film we've all been waiting for."

 

Need I say more??!! 

 

More to follow in another day, as certain VERY interesting details unfold...

 

 

Nature photographer James Balog, left, and director Jeff Orlowski, from the documentary "Chasing Ice," pose for a portrait during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Victoria Will)