Beneath the Polar Sun

DVD Available Late August 2025

DVD Universities, Colleges, Community Screenings: $295
(includes Public Performance Rights)

DVD: Public Libraries and K-12 (circulation only): $49

Digital File (Life-of-File MP4) $400
(a download link will be emailed) 

DVD and Life-of-File MP4 $450
(includes Public Performance Rights)

UPC: 680044984339

Synopsis

An Arctic expedition is caught in the grip of the ice it has come to study.

In the Arctic’s Last Ice Area, 500 nautical miles from the North Pole, a scientific team is on a rare mission to measure the world’s oldest ice floes. Tiny specks in a vast ocean wilderness, they are alone. And they’re in trouble. Jumbled slabs of sea ice are closing in from every corner. Hauling loaded kayaks, the team struggles to follow a route that had been navigable only years earlier. Trapped in a frozen maelstrom – caught in the grip of the floes they came to study – something has to give. The science is scuttled: bearing witness to Earth’s most pressing existential threat, what matters now is survival. They must escape the chaos by traversing a narrow channel between Canada and Greenland – the most formidable passage of the polar North.

QUOTABLE QUOTES
“Since the 1980s, the Arctic Ocean has lost three quarters of its ice volume. Beneath the Polar Sun introduces the role of sea ice in stabilizing global climate. Stunning and transporting, the film takes us into the wildest passage of the Far North, revealing the struggles of navigating a future of melting ice—and the formidable challenges that await us in a warming world.”
~ Jon Gertner, “The Ice at the End of the World”

“Every now and then you see a truly remarkable documentary film that really pulls at your heart. Beneath the Polar Sun reveals first hand what is happening to the Arctic seas, and it is no joke! This film is a wake-up call on the essential role of Arctic snow and ice in balancing our climate.”
~ Alex Trebek

“Because temperatures in the Arctic are rising much faster than in other parts of the world, global temperatures will soon soar through a step change which may be as much as a degree in a single year. Beneath the Polar Sun shows us that our Earth has a cooling system, and introduces us to one of the leading amplifiers of planetary heating.”
~ Peter Wadhams, “The End of Ice“

“A gripping adventure and a powerful documentary of the critical role of sea ice to the maintenance of a stable global climate. Beneath the Polar Sun generates a visceral, visual, and unforgettable emotional response, deep inside the bones, of the extent and severity of the global warming crisis that is so profoundly altering our planet.”
~ Jon Turk, “Crocodiles and Ice“

“The rapid melt of Arctic sea ice -- as this captivating film demonstrates so clearly -- has become a driving force in the remaking of our planet's climate. Few stories could be more important to understand.”
~ Bill McKibben, author “The End of Nature”

“Filmmakers Diana Kushner and Stephen Smith have … started an important conversation about how we can lead the planet to safety.”
~ Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Credits

Co-directed by Stephen Smith and Diana Kushner
Production company: Enduring Ice LLC

56 minutes  | 2021 | English language with English and Spanish Language subtitles

Production country: USA