Trailer
Year
2012
Length
89 min
Director
Daniel Anker
Icebound
ICEBOUND is not just a tale of adventure. The film reveals untold stories, as voices of the past and present guide us through the complex histories from the Alaskan frontier.
On January 28, 1925, newspapers and radio stations across the world headlined a terrifying story: Diphtheria had broken out among the children of Nome, Alaska. Nome, a small town on the Bering Sea, was as isolated as they come, separated from the rest of the world for seven months each year by a frozen ocean. With barely enough antitoxin on hand to treat half a dozen people, the death toll for Nome and other outlying communities could potentially reach into the thousands. Though a small supply of lifesaving serum was located, it was more than 1,600 kilometers away. With aviation still in its infancy, and one of the harshest winters on record in Interior Alaska, only ancient means – dogsled – could save the town.
The subsequent “Race Against Death” remains one of the most harrowing cliffhangers of the 20th century. In temperatures as low as 50 degrees below zero, more than twenty men, and at least 150 dogs, set out via dogsled to relay the antitoxin across 1100 kilometers of Alaskan wilderness to save the town from the lethal epidemic. This heartwarming story has resonated across cultures and generations in previous fictionalized retellings, including Steven Spielberg‘s animated film, BALTO.
ICEBOUND is not just a tale of adventure. The film reveals untold stories, as voices of the past and present guide us through the complex histories from the Alaskan frontier: the gold rush era, tensions and tragedies between Alaskan Natives and white pioneers, and the confrontation of ancient and modern.
Directed by
Daniel Anker
Written by
Daniel Anker
Susan Kim
Cinematography
Tom Hurwitz, Asc
Joan Churchill
Tom Pillifant
Michael Chin
Edward Marritz
Tyler Rhodes
Editing
Marlon Wilson
Jean Tsien
Bruce Shaw
Sound Design
Ken Hahn
Alan Barke
Research
Julie Stein
Produced by
Anna Bolster
Tiffany Peckosh
Executive Producer
Christian Beetz
Daniel Anker
Jan Rofekamp
Postproduction Manager
Philipp Weigold
Line Producer
Kathrin Isberner
Commissioning Editor
Martin Pieper (ZDF)
Sales & distribution
- Press kit
- Press photos
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„Just in diesem Moment überraschen uns die aus dem Theaterbereich stammenden jungen Regisseure Hans Block und Moritz Riesewieck mit einem erstaunlichen Dokumentarfilm, der seit Monaten Publikum und Kritik auf den wichtigsten Festivals der Welt elektrisiert. Völlig zu Recht: Es ist, als würden einem die Scheuklappen weggerissen, als sähe man das, was sich seit Jahren direkt vor unseren Augen abspielt, zum ersten Mal unverschleiert... eine fesselnde ,Doku noir' mit höchstem Anspruch...Dieser Film müsste an allen Schulen gezeigt werden.“
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
17.05.2018
