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YOUNG AUDIENCE PROGRAM
THE PURSUIT OF ENDURANCE
Film
Tuesday, February 9th 2016 at 11am – Florence Gould Hall
School groups only • Grades 3 – 12
For more information, please contact Clementine Guinchat at [email protected]
About the film

OFFICIAL MOVIE TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YttkGizltA

INFORMATION ABOUT THE FILM
The Pursuit of Endurance – On The Shoulders of Shackleton
A film by Bertrand Delapierre
Based on an original idea by Luc Hardy
Produced by Luc Hardy / Sagax Entertainment
Co-produced by Puzzle Media
World Premiere at Focus on French Cinema, Greenwich, CT – March 27, 2015
Film length: 52 min
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
OVERVIEW
The film, with its full title of “The Pursuit of Endurance – On the Shoulders of Shackleton” relates how
nine adventurers, including Luc Hardy, follow in the footsteps of explorer Ernest Shackleton, 100 years
after his epic expedition (Endurance expedition) that remains one of the greatest survival stories of
Antarctic exploration.
Hardy’s journey sets out to explore the sub-Antarctic islands of Elephant, South Georgia and the South
Sandwich.

SYNOPSIS
In the heart of the Antarctic, nine adventurers are about to live an extraordinary story. They come from
very different backgrounds, but one thing brings them together: a passion for adventure and testing the
limits.
On board: an expedition leader, a veteran explorer, a former officer, a skipper, a polar guide, a scientist,
two young soldiers and an athlete snowboarder.
Their goal: to follow into the footsteps of one of the greatest legends of the golden age of polar
exploration, British explorer Ernest Shackleton. In 1914, when Shackleton’s vessel (The Endurance)
stalled, stuck in the polar ice, he went on an epic rescue mission that saved his crew from certain death.
100 years after the Endurance expedition, a Franco-British team led by Luc Hardy wanted to relive part
of the epic voyage of the 1914 crew, but also have a personal adventure. To retrace the 800-mile journey
of Sir Ernest Shackleton in the Antarctic region, they traveled in a sailboat called the Australis and
crossed South Georgia on skis with pulkas (sleds).
The 2014 expedition was also an opportunity for this team to gather information and oceanographic and
scientific data, which help provide a better understanding of that part of the world and remind us of the
fragility of this highly endangered ecosystem.
With them, you will relive the best and also the most challenging moments of this great adventure!
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
THEMES
The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Also known as the Endurance Expedition (1914–17), it is
considered the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of
Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the
expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the
Antarctic continent. After the conquest of the South Pole by
Roald Amundsen in 1911, this crossing from sea to sea
remained, in Shackleton's words, the "one great main object of
Antarctic journeying." The expedition failed to accomplish this
objective, but became recognised instead as an epic feat of
endurance.
Shackleton had served in the Antarctic on Captain Scott's
Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and had led the British Antarctic
Expedition, 1907–09. In this new expedition he proposed to sail
to the Weddell Sea and to land a shore party near Vahsel Bay, in
preparation for a transcontinental march through the South
Pole to the Ross Sea. A supporting group, the Ross Sea party,
would meanwhile travel to the opposite side of the continent,
establish camp in McMurdo Sound, and from there lay a series
of supply depots across the Ross Ice Shelf to the foot of the Beardmore Glacier.
The expedition required two ships: Endurance under Shackleton for the Weddell Sea party, and Aurora,
under Captain Aeneas Mackintosh, for the Ross Sea party.
Endurance became beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea before reaching Vahsel Bay, and despite efforts to
free it, drifted northward, held in the pack ice, throughout the Antarctic winter of 1915. Eventually the
ship was crushed and sank, stranding its 28-man complement on the ice. After months spent in
makeshift camps as the ice continued its northwards drift, the party took to the lifeboats to reach the
inhospitable, uninhabited Elephant Island. Shackleton and five others then made an 800-mile (1,287 km)
open-boat journey in the James Caird to reach South Georgia. From there, Shackleton was eventually
able to mount a rescue of the men waiting on Elephant Island and bring them home without loss of life.
On the other side of the continent, the Ross Sea party overcame great hardships to fulfil its mission.
Aurora was blown from her moorings during a gale and was unable to return, leaving the shore party
marooned without proper supplies or equipment. Nevertheless, the depots were laid, but three lives
were lost in the process.
Climate change and environment
Luc Hardy’s expedition has also departed to raise awareness of the impact of climate change on polar
regions and to gather scientific data, pictures and films about Antarctica. The objective of this project,
organized in collaboration with the National Centre for Scientific Research/Pierre and Marie Curie
University (CNRS/UMPC), Laboratoire LOCEAN and Green Cross International (GCI), was indeed to bring
attention to the fragility of the highly endangered Antarctic ecosystem, and to improve understanding of
that continent’s remote expanses.
“We deal with a lot of environmental issues at Green Cross, but the one that ties us all together is
climate change. This really is about the need for behaviour change of the entire human race”
Paul Walker (Director, Environmental Security and Sustainability, Green Cross International)
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Although the impact of climate change and the Arctic are discussed often in the media, climate change in
the Antarctic is comparatively neglected, or reported misleadingly. The science, however, is clear:
climate change is already negatively impacting Antarctica.
The West Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming areas on Earth, with only some areas of the
Arctic Circle experiencing faster rising temperatures. However, since Antarctica is a big place, climate
change is not having a uniform impact, with some areas experiencing increases in sea ice extent. Yet in
others, sea ice is decreasing, with measurable impacts on wildlife.
Antarctic species are indeed dramatically impacted by climate as well. Krill often feed on algae
underneath sea ice and populations have been declining around the West Antarctic Peninsula as sea ice
has decreased. Adélie penguin populations have been declining in recent years due to reductions in krill
populations and changing weather conditions in their traditional nesting areas. Emperor penguins are
highly vulnerable as well and are predicted to suffer when the world's average temperature increases by
2 degrees Celsius.
Understanding climate change impacts on Antarctica was one of the main goals of Hardy’s expedition,
because they truly believe that this awareness is a matter of critical importance for the world and for the
continent itself. That is why, during their expedition, data were collected for oceanographic research
including measurements of salinity, atmospheric dust and CO2 concentrations in ocean waters and
currents to gain a better understanding of changes occurring in the oceans due to climate change.
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About the director, Bertrand Delapierre
Bertrand Delapierre is one of those rare people who can take a camera along with him to the trickiest
locations, and get the images for himself.
He lives and works in Passy, on the route to Mont Blanc. In 1994, he left the valley to do an engineering
degree in composite materials at Chambery, bringing together his passion for technology and his passion
for the mountains. But his attraction to images eventually prevailed.
Now a director and cameraman, he began with images of surfing and skiing and is one of the young
directors that Seven Doc has accompanied right from the beginning as feature film directors.
A distinguished mountaineer, his knowledge has enabled him to share many steep descents in the Alps
and the Himalayas with his friend and climbing partner Marco Siffredi (who was the first snowboarder to
descend Mount Everest by the Norton corridor in spring 2001).
His engineering knowledge enabled him to be at the origin of the first website dedicated to mountain
videos. His high level of performance is omnipresent in his films, but it's simply a way of enhancing the
beauty of the mountains and the intensity of a climbing story.
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About the expedition leader and producer, Luc Hardy
Luc Hardy, graduated from Ecole Centrale Paris, is an intrepid French-American explorer on an
environmental mission but also an entrepreneur, veteran adventurer, environmental advocate, author,
and member of the Explorers Club of New York.
Based in Cos Cob, Conn., where he lives with his wife and two daughters, he founded the Pax Arctica
expedition platform and is the vice president of Green Cross France et Territoires, part of the GCI
network, a non-governmental organization addressing the inter-connected global challenges of security,
poverty and environmental degradation.
Over the years, Luc Hardy has led several expeditions in polar and glacier regions (Greenland, Himalayas,
North Pole…). All expeditions have included children as youth ambassadors and witnesses of the
dramatic changes occurring in these regions.
Luc’s voyages have resulted in the publishing of several books, including: Antarctic – Adventure (2004),
Greenland – Impressions (2007) and Arctic – Transitions (2008).
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About Luc Hardy’s expedition (2014)

OVERVIEW
Since learning of the great survival tale of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Antarctica expedition
aboard the ill-fated ship "Endurance", Luc Hardy determined to trace Shackleton's footsteps. It took him
two years to build his team, first enlisting David Hemplemann-Adams, the British first-climber of all
seven of the world's highest summits, plus five other men and two women. A sailboat (The Australis) was
found, as was a captain able to traverse such a course and cameramen brave enough to capture it all.
Of the courageous females, one was a scientist and another an extreme-sport snowboarder who dazzled
viewers as she risked all shooting straight down snow-encrusted mountainsides.
The crew was finally composed of Luc Hardy (expedition leader), David Hemplemann-Adams (veteran
explorer), Justin Packshaw (former officer), Ben Wallis (skipper), François Bernard (polar guide),
Zoé Koenig (scientist), Ollie Baindbridge & Keith Harbridge (two young soldiers) and Géraldine Fasnacht
(athlete snowboarder).
The team departed on October 9th 2014, from Ushuaia and sailed to Elephant Island and then, South
Georgia. They also climbed the mountains and glaciers of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands,
in one of the most isolated regions.
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The expedition lasted six weeks and was an opportunity to conduct scientific studies. In those relatively
unknown Antarctic regions, they indeed led a scientific program on water (deployment of Argo
Oceanographic Floats, samplings of snow, climbing Zavodovski Volcano on rarely visited South Sandwich
Island), and measured submarine relief. They also observed, took pictures and videos of the wildlife and
brought together all the elements they collected in order to make a movie and a book about the
expedition.
The gorgeous shots of the expedition, showing the explorers' group stretched across vast snowscapes,
were accomplished in part with drones, a technology embraced by Hardy. The drones afforded
unforgettable images of the masses of seals, penguins and elephant seals on South Georgia Island.

A FEW EXCERPTS FROM LUC HARDY’S BLOG DURING THE EXPEDITION
Thursday Nov 6
After a very windy night (but not as windy as Camp 1 where we were forced to all sleep
in one tent and were almost blown away) we got up at 5am. The sky was rather sunny
and the wind had died down. It was time to go although it always manages to take an
hour and a half to get ready (packing, melting snow for water and preparing a strong
breakfast, undoing tent, redoing bags and sleds, …). We still had not decided which pass to
take so Bertrand, our cameraman but also a very accomplished climber, proposed to check
a couple of options while we finish getting ready. When he came back we decide to take
the pass we had originally planned on based on his discovery that the other one was
much further away.
The passage of the pass was very windy, which is typical, and the slope getting to it quite
steep but we all make it without too much trouble.
The remainder of the climb down to Fortuna Bay was a series of patches of snow and
rocks and tiny water flows that had to be crossed. This would not have been much of a
problem with lighter equipment, but with our sleds it was much more of an ordeal. We
helped each other lower the sleds with ropes and together carry them across rocky areas.
In any event, we were glad that we had not attempted to finish this section the night
before: we were tired, it was getting dark and we would have had to do everything with
headlamps - not worth the risk. This is neither a re-enactment nor a competition.
Eventually we made it to the ‘beach’ of Fortuna Bay after more than three hours of
strenuous effort. Penguins and seals are waiting for us and the Australis, our support boat,
was anchored in the bay.
We finally ended the most important leg of our crossing and congratulate ourselves on the
beach.
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Keith and Ollie crossing Breakwind Pass
Going down Breakwind Pass
Approaching Fortuna Beach
Arrived! With my sled – and the welcome committee in the background.
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Thursday Nov 13
After 6 weeks spent mostly at sea we are about to complete our pursuit of Endurance.
We have been sailing from South Georgia for the last five days and the Falklands
Islands are in sight under a beautiful sun at 5am this Wednesday morning. We will
be staying in and around the Falklands until our return flight this week-end.
Stay tuned: More reporting, flashbacks, photos, videos and future steps in the next
few days and weeks.
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