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The exploratory history of another world, told through accounts of polar explorers from different periods in our history. In 330 BC, the Greek explorer Pytheas is the first man to describe the Arctic Ocean. The report, of which only three sentences have been preserved, is read in the voice-over, while the first grainy black-and-white images of the icy sea appear. Centuries later, in 1819, Sir John Ross discovers and describes how inhabitants of the Arctic coast thought they were the only people inhabiting the universe. Again illustrated by images of creaking ice masses. In 1897, a Swedish inventor crashed with his hot air balloon, en route to the Arctic. All this yields a mix of extraordinary archive footage and new images, full of oddly shaped ice masses and antiquated polar bears, in various tints of white and grey. The images and archive footage of this artistic, short documentary come from and around 70º, Arctic Svalbard - the 'cold coast' of Norway.

Credits

Executive producer
Set geluid
Geluidsnabewerking
Sound Design
Production company
Rongwrong
Distributor NL
Eye Filmmuseum

Title: Desert 79° - 3 Journeys Beyond the Known World
Year: 2010
Duration : 19 minutes
Category: Short Documentary
Edition: NFF 2010

NFF Archive

You are now in the NFF Archive. The archive contains contains information on film, TV and interactive productions that were screened at past festival editions. The NFF does not dispose of this material. For this, please contact the producer, distributor or broadcaster. Sometimes, older films can also be found at the Eye Film Museum or the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.