Luc Jacquet and Icebreaker present Siberia.
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The ICEBREAKER studios know how to recount stories, how to showcase the wonders of the world, and how to pass on knowledge to others. Our job is to make audiences dream, our aims are to inspire people and to help them understand the world around us. We are dedicated to creating a future where man and nature live in harmony.
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REVEALING « THE HIDDEN FACE » OF PLANET EARTH
This project was born out of my encounter with Cédric Gras, a travel writer who greatly admires Russia, and my own, personal urge to travel through the wild and mysterious region of Eastern Siberia, from the Chukchi Sea to the Sea of Japan. I have never been able to understand why this part of the world, practically unknown to most people in Western Europe, is not just as famous as the American Far West. Because it has all the necessary ingredients: the sheer size and distances, indigenous peoples with cultures stretching back for thousands of years, breath-taking wildlife, a rich, epic history riddled with extraordinary and sometimes tragic events. I am thrilled to have this unique opportunity for me as a film director to focus attention on this little-known territory. We will recount it from varying viewpoints and using different media in order to attract and appeal to people from all walks of life. Luc Jacquet
*Oscar-winner for the best documentary film, March of the Penguins
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Autumnal splendor in the Siberian Far East.
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FILMING AUTUMN IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST
Arctic ocean and large walrus colony
Tundra and reindeer migration
Our crews will land in Chukotka, within the Arctic circle . In the stark wilderness of this part of the world it is the local wildlife who reign supreme; indeed, the impact of man’s presence is barely noticeable. We will film the thirty-eight thousand walruses who each year spend the Autumn months basking on the beaches of the Chukchi Sea before moving on to winter on the pack ice. And, wherever we travel, there are sure to be polar bears, whales and orcas near at hand. While crossing the tundra wastes, we will come into contact with the nomadic reindeer herders as they lead their huge herds in their annual migration towards the South. We will then head for Kamchatka to film its rumbling volcanoes, fast-flowing rivers and immense forests. This is the season when hundreds of brown bears come down to the banks of Lake Kuori to hunt the salmon which swim up the rivers at that time of the year in their millions. We plan to be there in time to witness this unforgettable natural phenomenon but also to film other members of the local wildlife: deer, foxes, elks, Steller’s sea eagles…
R U S S I A
Big wild river
Mutnovsky and Avachinsky volcanoes Kurile Lake and a large group of bears
Sikhote Alin moutain range and Siberian tiger
Amur leopard
Sea of Japan
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After that, we will travel to Primorsky Krai , an area where two seemingly opposing natural environments meet to form an ecosystemwhich has no equivalent anywhere else in the world. Our crews will follow the trails and rivers in the footsteps of the explorers who discovered this unique region where Northern species like the Snowy owl or the Eurasian lynx cohabit with those more typical of Southern Asia, like the Asian black bear or the Japanese maple tree. Above all perhaps, it is the realm of the Amur leopard and the Siberian tiger , two elusive inhabitants of these dense forests and who command the natural respect of anyone venturing into this area. We will follow their tracks and take time to highlight the life and habits of these apex predators.
We will travel over four thousand kilometres, from the Arctic down to the Sea of Japan, to showcase the natural sanctuaries of the Russian Far East . Filming will begin up North in August, and will continue as we gradually move southwards through the continent, always trying to keep up with the arrival of Autumn, until we finally reach the shores of the Sea of Japan in October. Everything we film will be used to produce a series of works and events.
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« TOUNDRA » MOTION PICTURE
Co-written with Cédric Gras, author of the book « L’hiver aux trousses », Tundra (the provisional title) is a road movie full of adventures, chance encounters and natural sceneries. The main character is 35-year-old Vadim, who has always lived in Paris and who, in 1992, decides to go off in search of his long-lost father who had disappeared during the final throes of Stalin’s reign. He unwittingly embarks upon a journey of self-discovery which will gradually allow him to overcome the prejudices he initially held about Russia and will lead to him discovering not only his roots but also the real face, heart and spirit of the country to which he does, after all, belong. He will make the acquaintance of many extraordinary characters as he travels through this enchanting region. He will share his adventures with Macha, an archivist he befriends while in Moscow, by sending him a series of short videos. Macha is finally enticed away from his fast-changing city life and ends up leaving it to experience life away from it all out in the wilds. The film will be shot in two languages: in the character’s mother tongue, French, when he is talking with and confiding in Macha and when expressing his emotions; but also in Russian, the language that his exiled mother taught him, which he will use more and more spontaneously to communicate with the people he encounters during his trip. (translated using subtitles).
team always on the lookout for unforeseen natural occurrences which may fit into the original scenario. Under the spiritual guidance of Akira Kurosawa, the film will lay greater emphasis on images and sounds recorded directly from nature rather than on the dialogues, and audiences will be given ample time to marvel at and contemplate them.
Luc Jacquet et Cédric Gras near the Avachinsky volcano, in Kamchatka.
Despite the enormous logistics issues involved, the film will be shot on location in natural surroundings by a crack
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«BABI LETO, AN AUTUMN IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST» A TOURING, IMMERSIVE EXHIBITION
EXPECTED TOTAL ATTENDANCE: MORE THAN 2 MILLION
LIFE SPAN OF TOURING EXHIBITION: 72 MONTHS
10 EUROPEAN CAPITAL CITIES
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Blending both cinema and immersive museography, the « Babi Leto, an Autumn in the Russian Far East»exhibition will be designed to be spectacular and of particular interest to families. The marquee will travel to all corners of the world. Designed in the same vein as its blockbuster predecessor, « Antarctica », visitors will once more feel they are totally immersed in the mysterious metamorphosis which take place in Siberia in Autumn.
1 PURPOSE- BUILT PORTABLE MARQUEE
EXHIBITION FLOOR SPACE: 1 600 M 2
As the walk through the exhibition, visitors will be surrounded by images projected on wide screens and by natural sound effects designed to recreate the atmosphere experienced by wildlife making ready for winter in one of the most inhospitable regions on earth. Trees changing colour, birds migrating, bears preparing to hibernate, nomadic reindeer herders following their herds… the exhibition will take the visitors on a moving yet instructive walk through the wilds.
AVAILABLE IN 24 LANGUAGES
MORE THAN 2 HOURS
OF CINEMA SEQUENCES
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TV DOCUMENTARIES
Autumnal metamorphosis. A fleeting yet crucial period of the year when survival depends on being able to successfully migrate, moult, store food or adapt biological rhythms. When spending autumn in the Russian Far East, we can but marvel at the way living beings invent different ways to prepare for winter. This TV documentary, designed to complement the « Babi leto » exhibition, will recount just how each animal and each plant devises and adopts its own strategy to survive winter in Siberia. It will also present and illustrate the natural history and abundant biodiversity of these regions. «ADAPT OR PERISH» A FULL-LENGTH TV DOCUMENTARY ABOUT NATURE IN SIBERIA IN AUTUMN
TV
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The general public discovered Dersou Ouzala in Akira Kurosawai’s Oscar-winning film in 1975. The film was based on the book of the same name, written by Vladimir Arseniev and published in 1921. It recounts the trials and tribulations of one of the Tsar’s explorers and Dersou, a local scout blessed with almost supernatural survival skills. For millions of cinema-goers Dersou Ouzala epitomised the hardiness of the disappearing Tungusic people , a sort of far-east Russian version of the Last of the Mohicans. This documentary follows in the footsteps of Dersou Ouzala and Arseniev, a century later on. In this version, the Chinese bandits have been replaced by businessmen, the Russian pioneers have prospered, and the Korean farmers have either gone home or become assimilated. The population density has increased, timber resources are in great demand all over the Pacific region, and yet… And yet, the backdrop to their adventure, the Sikhote Aline mountain range, has survived as an untouched area of wild, almost primeval wilderness. National parks have sprung up, Russia has made protecting tigers a priority and there still some people who continue to live out in the wilds. The ghost of Dersou Ouzala can be felt everywhere in the taigas, talking to the trees and animals and praying to Amba, the tiger god. It is easy to forget that a hundred years have passed by … «IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF DERSOU OUZALA» A FULL-LENGTH TV DOCUMENTARY WRITTEN BY CÉDRIC GRAS
In the company of Cédric Gras, the Russian-speaking author who is a connoisseur of this region, the documentary will embark the audience on a trip to meet those who choose to make the taiga their home. The men and women whose beliefs, outlook and mission are to help preserve this natural habitat remind us, poignantly, of Dersou Ouzala.
TV
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SHARING KNOWLEDGE
BOOKS
UNDERSTAND AND LEARN
Several books will be published to accompany and complement the film and exhibition. They will be based on the images and knowledge gleaned and brought back from our expeditions: a beautifully-illustrated book to reveal the metamorphosis which takes place in autumn, a beautifully- illustrated book which will retrace the history of the great expeditions organised over the years to explore and discover the Russian Far East, a graphic novel recounting an expedition with Dersou Uzala through forests ridden with bandits, tigers and spirits! This collection will be supplemented by books for young readers illustrating the wilderness and the wild animals of the Russian Far East and explaining how nature in this part of the world changes in Autumn.
Our ICEBREAKER film crews feel privileged to be able to visit the remotest places on earth in search of untouched, natural environments and the people who live there. To meet our objectives, we work in collaboration with scientists and local experts and gather all the knowledge and images we can in order to share with them as a wide a public as possible, notably with those who may need them in order to teach, pass on, raise awareness or demonstrate to others. The sharing process may take different forms: open-access e-learning paths, data for scientific publications, partnerships with professional educational networks or publishers books and magazines for young readers wishing to raise children’s awareness of how beautiful nature really is and of how it works.
BEAUTIFULLY- ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, GRAPHIC NOVELS, CHILDREN’S BOOKS…
E-LEARNING, MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS …
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CONTACTS
PATRICK FAIVRE patrick.faivre@icebreaker-studios.com
DIMITRI BÉLOT dimitri.belot@icebreaker-studios.com +33 (0)6 43 91 40 68
ICEBREAKER-STUDIOS.COM
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