DCEFF 365: Free Environmental Films

After Antarctica

Expired September 26, 2022 3:45 AM
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Co-presented with Grist as part of Climate Week NYC


Includes a pre-recorded Q&A with filmmaker Tasha Van Zandt.

A journey across both poles, After Antarctica follows legendary polar explorer Will Steger's lifelong journey as an eyewitness to the greatest changes to the polar regions of our planet. In 1989. an international crew of six explorers and scientists set out to be the first humans to cross Antarctica by dog-sled. Their mission: to draw attention to a rapidly changing Antarctica and convince world leaders to renew the Antarctic Treaty, in order to shield the frozen continent from industrial profiteers for the next 50 years. Now, as the expedition's leader Will Steger ventures out onto the ice once again - this time at the age of 75 and into the Arctic tundra - he recounts the historic, death-defying journey that forever changed his life and led him to where he is today.


Through riveting verite archival footage that brings the past alive, After Antarctica is a wilderness thriller pinning us to the edge of our seats as it immerses us in the danger, tension and sacrifice Steger and his team faced at every turn in order to complete their historic mission. As septuagenarian Steger treks into one more vast expanse, this time at the opposite end of the Earth, his reflections in the present crystallize into a profound cinematic memoir, a meditation on mortality, and a eulogy for the ice.

  • Year
    2021
  • Runtime
    105 minutes
  • Country
    United States
  • Premiere
    D.C. Premiere
  • Director
    Tasha Van Zandt