United Nations Screening of “The Pursuit Of Endurance"

Last night (Sept 14, 2015) was a very special event for me and over 600 lucky viewers. I had been invited to show my movie, ’THE PURSUIT OF ENDURANCE – On the Shoulders of Shackleton’ at the United Nations. Being able to do this unique screening on the eve of the opening of the 70th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly was a true honor. The event was under the High Patronage of His Excellency François Delattre, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, who introduced the event. Our host was The Association des Français Fonctionnaires Internationaux de New York (AFFIN), represented by Sibylle Eschapasse. We had a post-film Q&A session with a panel including Paul Walker, Director, Environmental Security and Sustainability, Green Cross International (http://www.gcint.org/) and David Porter, atmospheric and oceanographic research scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Columbia University (http://bit.ly/1Ou8U2z) Many questions were asked by children and adults alike about the film, the expedition, the Shackleton Endurance expedition, climate change, the Paris Climate COP21 conference in Paris in December, etc. The event was webcast and here is a link to the UN TV website showing introductory remarks as well as the full Q&A: http://bit.ly/1OVARyu.

 

From left to right: Luc Hardy, Sibylle Eschapasse (Présidente de l'Association des Français Fonctionnaires Internationaux de New York), Paul walker (Director, Environmental Security and Sustainability, Green Cross International), David Porter (Atmospheric and Oceanographic Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Columbia University)  — Photos: Denis Assalit


More info on the film:

TITLE: “THE PURSUIT OF ENDURANCE"

A film by Bertrand Delapierre
Produced by Luc Hardy / Sagax Entertainment
Co-produced by Puzzle Media
Trailer film English: http://ow.ly/Ny7eM
World Premiere at Focus on French Cinema, Greenwich, CT – March 27, 2015: http://www.focusonfrenchcinema.com/
Festival du Film Francophone – Angoulême – August 25-31, 2015 – Official selection: http://bit.ly/1PzITxr

As seen in Variety: http://bit.ly/1EbvC6T

The Pursuit of Endurance
On the Shoulders of Shackleton
Trailer: http://ow.ly/Ny7eM

In the heart of the Antarctic, nine adventurers are about to live an extraordinary story.
They come from very different backgrounds, but one thing brings them together: a passion for adventure and testing the limits.
Their goal: to follow in the footsteps of one of the greatest legends of the golden age of polar exploration: Ernest Shackleton.
In 1914, after the sinking of his shipThe Endurance, this hero saved his entire crew from a certain death.
100 years later our expedition sets out to explore the sub-Antarctic islands of Elephant, South Georgia and the South Sandwich by boat, ski and pulka.
On board the Australis: an expedition leader, a veteran explorer, a former officer, a skipper, a polar guide, a scientist, two young soldiers and an athlete snowboarder.
An expedition to remind us of the fragility of this highly endangered ecosystem, and to improve our understanding of these remote expanses.
With them, you will relive the best but also the most challenging moments of this great adventure.

With the support of SOPRA STERIA (http://www.soprasteria.com/en) and La Française http://www.lafrancaise-group.com/en/home.html

Trailer film English: http://ow.ly/Ny7eM

Au FFA (Festival du Film Francophone d’Angoulême), il y a aussi de la place pour le débat

 

CLIMAT “À la poursuite de l’Endurance” a permis de rebondir sur la conference de Paris

Le producteur Luc Hardy a animé le débat (photo Michel Amat). De gauche à droite: Luc Hardy, Nicolas Imbert (DG Green Cross France), Delphine Bathot (Députée des Deux-Sèvres et ancienne Ministre de l’Ecologie et de l’Environnement, Thierry Gortzounian (Secrétaire Général – La Française Group)




Une cinquantaine de personnes dans la salle et une seule star: l’Antarctique… Il n’y a pas que le strass et les paillettes dans la vie du FFA. Hier le documentaire de Bertrand Delapierre “À la poursuite de l’Endurance” était projeté au CGR. Le film raconte l’expédition polaire de neuf aventuriers partis sur les traces d’Ernest Shackleton dont le navire a fait naufrage , il y a près d’un siècle, au large de l’île de l’Elephant. Entre performance sportive et éclairage scientifique, le film a pour ambition de sensibiliser le public au dérèglement climatique. À l’issue de la projection Luc Hardy, le directeur général de Green Cross Nicolas Imbert et l’ancienne ministre Delphine Batho ont lancé le débat avec, en toile de fond, l’échéance de la conférence de Paris sur le climat. Un échange intéressant qui a permis de mesurer l’écart entre ceux qui pensent que la conférence fera bouger les choses et ceux qui restent pessimistes.

Article "Sud Ouest"

"THE PURSUIT OF ENDURANCE" AT UNITED NATIONS

I am pleased to announce that on the eve of the opening of the 70th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly, a special screening of THE PURSUIT OF ENDURANCE will take place – on 14 September 2015 at the United Nations' headquarters in New York City. The event is free. I hope you can attend. Details below:

"The Pursuit of Endurance" at The United Nations

A film by Bertrand Delapierre
Produced by Luc Hardy / Sagax Entertainment
Co-produced by Puzzle Media
A presentation at the UNITED NATIONS 
Under the High Patronage of His Excellency François Delattre, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations 
Hosted by: The Association des Français Fonctionnaires Internationaux de New York (AFFIN)  

Introduction: His Excellency François Delattre
Moderator: Ms. Sibylle Eschapasse
Post-film Q+A with Luc Hardy: the film, climate change and the COP21 conference: Luc Hardy
In the presence of a representative from Green Cross International.

– Monday, 14 September 2015 
– Start: 6.30 p.m to 8.30 p.m
– Exact Address: United Nations Visitor's entrance on 1st Avenue and 46th Street (Projection Conference Room 4)
– Bring your passport/ID
– Language: English
– Film Running time: 52'
– Please allow time for security check at entrance.
– The event is free

- The event is FREE but to attend, you and your guests must reserve your seats at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-pursuit-of-endurance-at-united-nations-new-york-city-tickets-18099006616?aff=eac2

Greenwich Time : 'captivating' foreign films

The Focus on French Films festival, now in its 11th year, came again to Greenwich last weekend, captivating us with the ambiance of foreign language films and giving us an appreciation for the creative people who make them.
Renee Amory Ketcham, who chaired the festival, reported the same number of attendees this year as last despite the fact fewer films were shown: "4,500 cinephiles from the tri-state area."
The 20 films with newly added shorts selections were thoughtfully vetted, said Anne Kern, of Riverside, an associate professor of cinema at Suny Purchase, who was involved in choosing the films.
"The French produce 200 films a year," she said. "What we are doing for our festival audience is curating these French films and winnowing them down to choose what pleases and delights our audience."
A survey of last year's festival viewers showed more than a third had attended the festival for five years or more, indicating they approved the choices.
First on my list to see was the premiere of the documentary "The Pursuit of Endurance -- On the Shoulders of Shackleton," an inspiration realized by Luc Hardy, our hometown explorer, entrepreneur and venture capitalist.
Since learning of that great survival tale of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Antarctica expedition aboard the ill-fated ship "Endurance," Hardy determined to trace Shackleton's footsteps. It took him two years to build his team, first enlisting David Hemplemann-Adams, the British first-climber of all seven of the world's highest summits, plus five other men and two women. A sailboat was found, as was a captain able to traverse such a course and cameramen brave enough to capture it all.
Of the courageous females, one was a scientist and another an extreme-sport snowboarder who dazzled viewers as she risked all shooting straight down snow-encrusted mountainsides.
The gorgeous shots of the expedition, showing the explorers' group stretched across vast snowscapes, were accomplished in part with drones, a technology embraced by Hardy. The drones afforded unforgettable images of the masses of seals, penguins and elephant seals on South Georgia Island.
But having the most impact was the sudden and formidable sight of Elephant Island rising out of the ocean in all its dark and fearful grandeur, a jagged mountain of rock, snow and ice where Shackleton's crew managed to survive for five months eating penguins and seals while waiting for rescue.
Other festival film highlights included the slow-moving but architecturally ravishing film "La Sapienza," focused on a Swiss architect in love with the 7th century works of Italian architect Borromini. The story was told in both French and Italian. Over 100 showed up for that one, including U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., and wife, Mary.
A film set amid the lushness of the Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia called "The Gate" -- its French title was "Le Temps Des Aveux" -- told the stark story of a French ethnologist captured by the Khmer Rouge.
But the real standout for many was the film "Once in a Lifetime," or "Les Heritiers," the true story of a charismatic teacher in a Parisian suburban high school who involved her disparate class in an essay contest and, for inspiration, invited a Holocaust survivor to address them. The result was a transformative experience for the class.
Anne Kern, post screening, introduced the film's director, Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, a former American journalist and now-naturalized French citizen and director who had received the screenplay from one of those transformed students.
Mention-Schaar spoke of following the teacher with a camera for a year, then added a footnote. When the Buchenwald concentration camp survivor told the class the date of the camp's liberation in 1945, he mistook the date as Jan. 29. The survivor, said Mention-Schaar, had died this year -- on Jan. 29.
It's the sharing of stories like this that make a film festival with the creators intriguing.
Missing in the Bow Tie cinema lobby this year were the few small tables where film-goers and -makers could converse. The sit-down area was available when the festival was at SUNY Purchase, said Kern. She said she believes in the value of viewers able "to share their love and their opinions of films."
"This is the reason for a festival," she said, "It really creates a cultural event."
Also viewing these films are the thousands of students in the tri-state area that come to the festival, some 6,000 students in 10 years, Kern said. One hopes a good number of them saw the film "Once in a Lifetime."
Sitting in front of me for "The Gate" was Roger Lurie, whose wife, Claude, is French. He finds French films to have more depth than American films, he said.
Time did not allow catching one of the 10 comedies in the mix this year, including, "I Kissed a Girl." Kern described it as "about a gay man going straight."
"People were crying with laughter," she said.
Kern said she couldn't imagine such a film being made in America, "But the film portrays a vision of the world where homosexuality is no longer a special category.
"French films afford an expanded vision of what cinema can be," said Kern, talking about the support artistic cinema gets from the French government. Every movie ticket sold in France she said, has a portion held back for first-time film directors.
 

Anne W. Semmes 
Updated 10:09 am, Friday, April 3, 2015

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