The Films

• Year 2021
• Runtime 64 min
• Director Tasha Van Zandt

Staff Pick

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.

• Year 2020
• Country Australia & US
• Runtime 13 min
• Director Nathaniel Schmidt

Michigan Premiere

Best known for his legendary polar explorations, Will Steger’s life work grew out of a single log cabin he built after moving to the Minnesotan wilderness at age 25. Reliant on sustainable energy and natural commodities, Steger formed a community and culture based on the principle of mutuality. Central to Steger’s operation is the lost art of cutting ice for refrigeration. This annual harvest formed a tradition spanning fifty years that became known as the “Ice Ball”. While this old world technology inevitably became obsolete, its disappearance parallels a concerning loss of social interdependence in modern society.

In a nostalgic celebration of this winter craft, the film is a portrayal of human innovation and interconnection that embodies one man’s attempt to move society forward, without leaving the past behind.