Today we announced sales for pioneering scientific expedition documentary, Arctic Drift: A Year In The Ice, to an array of broadcasters globally, including Amazon Prime Video for Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Channel 4 in the UK, PBS science series NOVA in the US and France Televisions.
Arctic Drift: A Year In The Ice is a landmark documentary on the most critical topic of our time. It tells the epic story of a vital, pioneering scientific expedition deep into the spectacular Arctic Circle, the epicentre of climate change. The film follows 300 international scientists led by the German Alfred Wegener Institute on board the icebreaker, Polarstern, the ship that is their home and research base, frozen into a fragile, drifting ice floe for almost an entire year.
The documentary is set to broadcast in the UK, US, and France, throughout October and November, coinciding with this year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) which starts on 1st November in Glasgow.
International sales to territories, include pan regional deals with National Geographic for Latin America, BBC Earth channels in Africa and Asia, OSN for Middle East and North Africa and AMC Networks International – Central and Northern Europe’s Spektrum for Czech, Hungary and Slovakia. In Eastern Europe, LTV (Latvia), LRT (Lithuania), Canal+ (Poland) and RTV Slovenija and Czech TV have acquired rights. Pubcasters, DR (Denmark) YLE (Finland) and NRK (Norway) have picked up rights in Scandinavia. Arctic Drift: A Year In The Ice will be launched in Spain on free to air channel TVE and AMC Networks International – Southern Europe’s Odisea /Odisseia for Spain and Portugal, in Italy Rai 4 have picked up premiere rights, and Sky Italia have also acquired the rights for Pay TV. The documentary has also sold to VRT Belgium, KBS Korea, Gain in Turkey and Cosmote TV in Greece. The film was originally produced for German broadcaster ARD.
Jens Richter, CEO, International says, “This is a brilliant, timely documentary with exclusive access to a once in a lifetime experience with a full spectrum of international scientists. The roster of broadcasters who have come on board highlights that there is the appetite for premium documentaries with an urgent message, and this is a film that is uniquely backed up with science, hope and the adventure of spending a year in the Arctic.”
The MOSAiC expedition that was 10 years in the planning, has taken an intrepid, international team of climate scientists thousands of miles to capture the previously unattainable data we desperately need to transform our understanding of climate change before it is lost forever.
In one of the harshest environments on the planet, we follow the dangers, dramas and challenges that face the team, as they brave the brutal Arctic winter in their search for answers locked within the sea ice, ocean and atmosphere, allowing us to understand for the first time how this dynamic and enigmatic landscape regulates temperatures and climate across the globe.
Arctic Drift: A Year In The Ice is a collaboration between two Fremantle companies; German production company UFA Show & Factual and London based Wild Blue Media. After 385 filming days at the north pole in worlds harshest condition the film was unveiled in 2020 as Fremantle’s first high-end factual original.
