A journey across both poles, After Antarctica follows polar explorer Will Steger's life journey as an eyewitness to the greatest changes to the polar regions of our planet. In 1989, Steger led an international team of six scientists and explorers on the first coast-to-coast dogsled traverse of Antarctica. The ultimate mission of the expedition was to draw global attention to Antarctica’s changing climate and use the expedition as a tool to renew the Antarctic Treaty, which would protect the continent from mineral exploitation. Even with his background in science and knowledge of the changing climate, Steger could never have expected what he would soon discover. This arduous expedition opened his eyes to the most pressing issue of our time and ultimately changed the course of his life forever.

Now, thirty years later, Steger heads out on the ice once again, this time to the opposite end of the Earth, recounting the life-changing journey that led him to where he is today. After Antarctica is a film about a legendary expedition unlike any other - not only were Steger and his team of renegade explorers the first to complete this historic feat, they were also the last.

Director Biography - Tasha Van Zandt



Tasha Van Zandt is an Emmy-Nominated filmmaker who has traveled on assignment around the globe across all seven continents. Her most recent film, After Antarctica, is a feature-length documentary that follows the life of one of National Geographic's most celebrated polar explorers. 

The project is supported by the Sundance Institute, Film Independent, and SFFILM. Van Zandt’s previous short film, One Thousand Stories, offers an intimate look into the creation of the renowned artist JR's first interactive mural which was exhibited at the SFMOMA. The Oscar-qualifying film was selected for the 2019 DOC NYC Festival, 2020 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the 2020 Mill Valley Film Festival, and the 2020 San Francisco International Film Festival. The film was the first of a series of collaborations with the renowned French artist, and together they are currently directing the documentary film Tehachapi, which highlights the power of art as a tool for rehabilitation within a supermax prison in Southern California.

For her film, The Gun Chronicles, Van Zandt traveled throughout the country documenting the creation of the TIME Magazine Guns In America cover issue, which highlighted varied perspectives on gun control across the United States. Her award-winning documentary web series Five Minutes from Home garnered millions of views around the world and won numerous awards. Her work has been commissioned by National Geographic, TIME Magazine, HBO, The Guardian, PBS, NPR, Google, and Adobe, among many others. She has been invited to speak at such events as Adobe Max and Popup Magazine. 

Throughout the year, Tasha leads expeditions around the world for National Geographic in places such as Tanzania, Iceland, Australia, and Japan. She is a 2019 Film Independent Documentary Lab Fellow, a 2019 Sundance Institute Fellow, a 2020 SFFILM Sloan Stories of Science Fellow, a 2020 Ken Burns Prize Grantee, and a 2020 SFFILM FilmHouse Resident.

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Friday Harbor Film Festival thanks Aeronautical Services, Inc. for sponsoring this film.