Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2014) — New Zealand

Anthony Powell grew up on a dairy farm in New Zealand, but has spent much of his adult life living and working in Antarctica.  He produced, directed and filmed this 90-minute documentary about what life is like at the bottom of our planet.  The project took ten years, but in his hands, pictures are truly better than words, especially those with his time lapse technology.  During the summer months, about 5,000 people live in Antarctica, most of them doing science, and most of them at McMurdo Station (the largest of 30 bases that dot the continent).  That population dwindles to 700 people in winter (in a land the size of the USA).  For four months in summer, the sun never dips below the horizon, and during four months of winter, it never rises.  In the magical month of March, the sun rises and sets at normal times.  Winds howl at up to 200 MPH.  Temperatures plummet to minus 50.  Powell turns to the everyday people at McMurdo to tell their stories — a retail clerk, a fireman, a mechanic, and an administrator.  I watched this film on Netflix Streaming; it would make for great family film night.