S.F. Fest

Ice People

 (Documentary -- U.S.-France)

By DENNIS HARVEY

A Dry Valley Prods., ITVS Intl. (U.S.)/Arte France (France) production, in association with Sundance Channel. Produced by Benoit Gryspeerdt, Anne Aghion. Directed by Anne Aghion.
 
With: Allan A. Ashworth, Adam R. Lewis, Andrew Podoll, Kelly Gorz.
 

Think your job environment is inhospitable? Try working alongside the scientists posted in high-altitude Antarctica at temperatures down to minus-60 degrees Fahrenheit in "Ice People." Taking a thematic break from her recent docus on Rwanda, Anne Aghion delivers an intriguing slice-of-life that observes the area's staggeringly beautiful and imposing landscapes and the unique challenges experienced by those who work there. Pic should score broadcast sales in numerous territories.

Opening with U.S.-run McMurdo research station personnel exulting over the first sunlight in six months, the doc focuses, rather, on a quartet camping in "deep field" isolation a helicopter ride away from the permanent community of technicians and other support staff. The two American geologists and their student assistants are looking for evidence of a warm, verdant Antarctica that likely existed up to 20 million years ago. In this painstaking, body-numbing work, finding one perfect leaf fossil is a palpable thrill. While the environment is vividly etched, claustrophobia-strained interpersonal dynamics are just teased, as when student Andrew notes feeling discomfited as a Christian and scientist, or when members of the McMurdo crew mention the social gap between them and the visiting academics.

Camera (color, HD), Sylvestre Guidi; editor, Nadia Ben Rachid; music, Laurent Petitgand. Reviewed at San Francisco Film Festival (Documentaries), April 28, 2008. Running time: 77 MIN.