The Sixth Annual Explorers Club Film Festival - Celebrating the Spirit of Exploration
June 13-14, 2008
SCREENING SCHEDULE
For reservations, please call 212-628-8383 or order online here
(See below for ticket pricing.)
FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 13
OPENING NIGHT (tickets $40)
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Registration
7:00 pm - 7:30 pm Introduction and discussion with Norman Dyhrenfurth HON'62
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm Screening of THE CONQUEST OF EVEREST
9:00 pm - 10:00 pm Reception
THE CONQUEST OF EVEREST (90 minutes) - The classic 1953 feature documentary of the British expedition to Mt. Everest, led by Sir John Hunt, which culminated in Sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay's historic summit. The film details how the peak was discovered and named, and outlines the previous attempts to reach its summit, beginning in 1922. It takes viewers into the complex planning before the victorious climb, and then accompanies the mountaineers and their Sherpa guides on the actual expedition. Both The New York Times and Time magazine named it one of the ten best films of the year and it received a “Best Documentary” Academy Award nomination as well as a British Academy Award. Directed by George Lowe.
The film will be introduced by Norman Dyhrenfurth, Honorary Explorers Club Fellow, who led the first successful American team to Mt. Everest, having spent three years on the organization and fundraising of this privately-mounted venture. Mr. Dyhrenfurth is coming from his home in Austria as the festival's honored guest.
SATURDAY, JUNE 14
MORNING SESSION (tickets $20)
9:00 am - 9:30 am Registration
9:30 am - 12:30 pm Program
RETURN TO PENGUIN CITY (Best Science Exploration Film - 48 minutes) - A fascinating, wonderfully told documentary about the Adelie penguins of Antarctica, with the science that was missing from "March of the Penguins." Researchers Viola Toniolo and Grant Ballard discover that rapid climate changes may not only affect the penguins ability to survive, but it could also have major repercussions well beyond this distant corner of the world. Produced and directed by Lloyd Fales, who will introduce the film.
DOG GONE ADDICTION (Best Adventure Film - 67 minutes) - Hang onto your dog team and join three women competing in the grueling Yukon Quest dog sled race. A young Canadian mother, a Polish adventurer and an Alaska dog sled veteran test their limits and the limits of their huskies through 1,000 miles of sub-zero Yukon and Alaska terrain. This spirited and uplifting account of what can be achieved when you face your fears reveals why the lesser-known Yukon Quest is considered by many to be the toughest dog sled race on earth. Produced and Directed by Becky Bristow, who will introduce the film.
ICE CHALLENGER (Best Film by an Explorers Club Member - 48 minutes) - The first crossing of the frozen Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia in a land-based vehicle. An Explorers Club Flag Expedition by British adventurer Steve Brooks in his Snowbird 6 vehicle, which must be capable of driving on the frozen ice, crossing the open sea, mounting and leaving huge frozen ice pans - all in -40 degree weather. Written and produced by Celia Carey Meyer. Directed by Sean Davison.
AFTERNOON SESSION (tickets $25)
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm Registration
1:30 pm - 5:30 pm Program
PRIZE OF THE POLE (Best Expedition Film - 78 minutes) - An unforgettable film about the darker angels of Robert Peary's nature - the rarely examined story of his secret Eskimo wife and family and his highly controversial transport of young Eskimos to New York for anthropological study -- all told through the odyssey of the renowned polar explorer's Eskimo great-grandson, who travels to America in search of one lost boy's fate. A riveting, heart-breaking tale eloquently told by filmmaker Staffan Julen.
STRANGE DAYS ON PLANET EARTH: DIRTY SECRETS (Best Environmental Film - 55 minutes) - The fifth episode of this renowned National Geographic series, produced by the Sea Studios Foundation. Beautifully written and photographed, "Dirty Secrets" propels the audience into a new set of compelling environmental mysteries and inspiring solutions, revealing the strange and often unpredictable consequences of the pollutants we pour into our waters. Produced and directed by Rob Whttlesey. Narrated by Edward Norton. Executive Producer Mark Shelley will introduce the film.
GREENPEACE: MAKING A STAND (Special Jury Award - 48 minutes) - With dramatic action footage, still photographs, lively interviews with unforgettable characters, evocative period and contemporary music, "Greenpeace: Making a Stand" explores what inspires people to risk their lives for their beliefs - to sail a ship into a nuclear test zone, to get between a pod of whales and an explosive harpoon, or to block bulldozers mowing down a forest. This compelling documentary looks at the 35-year evolution of Greenpeace, from the early days of the environmental movement in the 1970s to the front lines of a potentially dangerous campaign in Argentina. Produced and Directed by Leigh Badgley, who will introduce the film.
EVENING SESSION (tickets $30)
6:30 pm - 7:00 pm Registration
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm Program
THE THIRD POLE (Best Exploration Film - 89 minutes) - The extraordinary and untold story of husband and wife mountaineers and filmmakers Hettie and Gunter Dyhrenfruth, who in the 1930s mounted private world-class international expeditions to the Himalaya that were milestones in the exploration of its unclimbed and virtually unknown 8,000-meter peaks. Swiss citizens, Hettie and her son, Norman, were in the U.S. in 1939 when war broke out in Europe. Norman went on to become a prominent American mountaineer and filmmaker, organizer of the first American expedition to summit Everest in 1963. Featuring Norman Dyhrenfurth, Reinhold Messner and Sir Christian Bonington. A film by Andreas Nickel and Juergen Czwienk. Norman Dyhrenfurth will introduce the film, along with Andreas Nickel.
POLYNESIA: THE WAYFINDERS (Best People and Culture Film - 47 minutes) - Part of Wade Davis' brilliant series, Light at the Edge of the World, this film chronicles the Wayfinders of Polynesia, who inhabited the largest culturesphere in human history, spanning one-fifth of the surface of the planet. The navigators could pinpoint tiny islands in the vastness of the Pacific by reading the stars, the winds and the seas swells. However, this culture that once flourished over 25 million square kilometers of ocean has seen much of its history and tradition die out. To preserve Wayfinding, one Hawaiian learns this art form of navigation and designs a traditional Polynesian boat to sail across the islands. Written and Produced by Wade Davis and Andrew Gregg. Directed by Andrew Gregg. National Geographic photographer Chris Rainier will introduce the film.
For reservations, please call 212-628-8383 or email reservations@explorers.org.
Tickets are priced as follows:
Saturday Morning Session - $20
Saturday Afternoon Session - $25
Saturday Evening Session - $30
All-Day Saturday Pass - $60 (includes all three sessions on Saturday)
All-Festival Pass - $95 (includes all four sessions on Friday and Saturday)
2008 Festival Director
Les Guthman
Film Festival Committee
Deirdre Brennan
Sheena Doig
Rita Evans
Nancy Rosenthal
Jeff Stolzer
Panel of Judges
Deirdre Brennan
Katie Carpenter
Les Guthman
Nancy Rosenthal
Jeff Stolzer
R. Scott Winters