Director Dena Seidel is an award winning documentary filmmaker, published short story author, as well as the creator and designer of the first film major at Rutgers University. Here, she talks about her feature-length documentary film, Antarctic Edge: 70º South.

Q Please tell us about your new film.

Antarctic Edge: 70º South combines innovative science, dramatic imagery and two decades of scientific collaboration into a compelling character-driven narrative. Our filmmakers had unprecedented access to critically important climate research in the fastest winter-warming place on earth: the West Antarctic Peninsula.

Q What makes it different from previous films that have focused on the Antarctic?

A This is the first time in history that the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project at Palmer Station has ever been documented on film — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for viewers to get an inside look into the mecca of rapid climate change science.

Living day-to-day with world-renowned scientists in this remote and dangerous landscape, our cameras captured the everyday decisions, challenges and anxieties of scientists on a historic mission. Willing to take risks in pursuit of new and important discoveries, these researchers push the limits of their science and come to terms with the sacrifices necessary to study and ultimately prepare for global climate change.

Q What have the scientists discovered about global warming during their time in the Antarctic?

A For the last 20 years, oceanographer Oscar Schofield and his team have witnessed rapid change in this region. Winter sea ice has declined by three months and temperatures have increased by 11 degrees Fahrenheit, six times greater than the global average. In 2014, scientists declared Antarctic ice sheet melt unstoppable, placing the pressure on Schofield and his team.

Q What kind of challenges do the scientists face in such a harsh environment?

A Studying climate change in the most remote part of the world presents our scientists with serious challenges as they travel through Antarctica’s perilous terrain for six weeks on an icebreaker.

Their mission is to study the vulnerable wildlife populations along the West Antarctic Peninsula, particularly the Adelie Penguin whose populations have declined by 90 per cent. For Schofield and his crew, these declining birds are the greatest indicator of climate change and a harbinger of what is to come.

While navigating through 60-foot waves and dangerous icebergs, these scientists must travel south to a rugged and inhospitable island called Charcot with an arsenal of cutting-edge technology that will revolutionise how climate change is studied. There, they hope to study a fragile Adelie population living in a true polar climate.

Q What challenges do the scientists face in communicating the severity of climate change?

A There is urgent need to improve science communication to the general public. Too often research narratives fail to illustrate the excitement, challenges and passion required to explore the planet. As such, the Rutgers Film Bureau has partnered with the Rutgers Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences to create a multi-tiered documentary film project featuring the transformative science of the National Science Foundation’s LTER project at Palmer Station.

This film directly engaged undergraduate film students throughout the pre and post-production of the film. The Rutgers Film Bureau provides hands-on learning experiences for students to craft and shape important science stories for the screen and to collaborate with scientists working to solve problems in the environment and society. Our exciting teaching model offers students the opportunity to learn science while they develop professional skills as science communicators.

Antarctic Edge: 70º South screens on Sunday May 17 at 3 pm in the Tradewinds Auditorium of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute. Reserve tickets by calling 294-0204.