The Great Thaw

The Great Thaw is a project about permafrost thaw and how landscape is changed by it. We take a close look at ecosystems like the boreal forest, the tundra and the arctic coastline to document the impacts of the melting permafrost caused by climate change and to present the beauty of permafrost itself. After Antarctic Traces, The Great Thaw is a new part of the Ecological Grief Series which focuses on different aspects of human interaction with nature in the Anthropocene. The series investigates environmental melancholia and the loss of places, species and ecosystems. (directors' note)

What does it mean to represent the visual traces of environmental destruction? How to communicate the temporality of global heating in a time-based medium? These are the questions tackled by Michaela Grill and Karl Lemieux’s experimental documentary exploring permafrost thaw and its effects on diverse ecosystems. The film does not shy away from the gravity of the situation, the title alluding not only to potential futures but equally to a very tangible and disastrous present. Gliding camera movements reminiscent of Grill’s Into the Great White Open reveal the surfaces and contours of Arctic snow-covered landscapes that drift in and out of...