What began as an alternative enviro-doc about National Geographic photographer James Balog morphed into a broader portrait of one man’s determination to prove the effects of global warming using the power of images in a project dubbed EIS (Extreme Ice Survey). With 34 Nikon cameras slaved to timers in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, and Montana, Balog photographed 4 major glaciers between 2007-2011. Director Jeff Orlowski not only acted as Balog’s assistant, but co-filmed the largest hunk of ice to break from a glacier – one of the doc’s most impressive among many jaw-dropping sequences and montages.

Written by Mark Monroe (The Tillman Story, The Cove), Chasing Ice’s structure is tight, and Orlowski paces the film to deliver the maximum images and info without being preachy or over-stylized. With Balog’s observations, commentary and stellar photography, he’s the film’s anchor – a devoted activist whose own body is being eroded by the extreme environments that feed his obsession to educate, and provoke.

© 2012 Mark R. Hasan