Chasing Ice Nominated for Oscar
February 22, 2013
Long a skeptic about climate change, environmental photographer James Balog was faced with undeniable evidence through his Extreme Ice Survey. Many of us first encountered Balog’s work in his 2009 TED talk, where he shared image sequences from the survey, a network of time-lapse cameras recording glaciers receding at an alarming rate, some of the most vivid evidence yet of climate change. The riveting videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate.
Hearing that Balog’s groundbreaking documentary, ‘Chasing Ice,‘ had been nominated for an Oscar, one might assume it would be for Best Documentary or Best Cinematography – but no. The Nomination came in for Best Original Song ~ Written by J. Ralph with a haunting vocal by actress Scarlett Johansson accompanied by Joshua Bell. As the credits rolled at the end of the film, ‘Before my Time,‘ was a haunting backdrop to the undeniable climate truth that we had just borne witness to. With a short appearance by Dr. Sylvia Earle, Balog’s film is being dubbed by many to be ‘the new Inconvenient Truth.’ Do whatever you must to see it!
The Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013.
By Deb Castellana, Mission Blue
