Exposure Review – Determination and Grit

Ida Olsson in EXPOSURE - Photo courtesy of Powderkeg Studios
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EXPOSURE has had a varied festival odyssey from its world premiere in Chicago in 2021 to more than three dozen prestige film festivals. Along the way, EXPOSURE racked up ten awards and lots of positive nods. An all-female film, EXPOSURE is written and directed by Holly Morris with stunning cinematography by Kathryn Barrows and Ingeborg Jakobsen. Now it is short-listed for yet another award.

The Women Prepare – Photo by Renan Ozturk

EXPOSURE is a documentary by women and about women who take a spectacular journey to the North Pole. Yes, the North Pole, the place with snow and ice and polar bears. The tale begins simply enough with a lone woman dragging a tire at the end of a rope through the streets of Manchester, England. Strange, but perhaps not so unfamiliar in an urban jungle. The story follows the odyssey of a group of adventurous women with lots of enthusiasm and a good deal of physical endurance as they work their way from home to the freezing Arctic in a trek to flag the northernmost tip of the globe.

Asma Al Thani from Qatar and Ida Olsson – Photo courtesy of Powderkeg Studios

The women hail from distant corners of the world, including Oman, France, Qatar, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, and the UK. Their journey is slated to study several very important factors which might even be applicable to space travel in the future. Theirs is a study of physical endurance and strength following a route heretofore only traversed by men. It also measures the body’s biological reaction to stress and pushing itself to the limits. And it is a study of psychological factors which affect reaching a difficult goal. The women are all volunteers who have demonstrated genuine motivation, commitment, and enthusiasm to become members of a group which will require hours of training spread over two years before they are even considered ready to try this feat. At the same time, they are inexperienced but open to learning. To add spice to the group, they were also selected from two specific groups, European and Muslim, in order to assess how well the two groups could work together in this highly stressful environment..

Day Two – Photo courtesy of Powderkeg Studios

The participants ultimately represented more than geography, social class, religion, or vocational choices. They were a potpourri of females from all walks of life, including the Muslim contingent of Anisa al Raissi (Oman), Asma Al Thani (Qatar royalty), Maryam Alabbas Hamidaddin (Saudi Arabia, art curator),and  Misba Khan (Pakistani who settled in the UK, now a mother and housewife). The European contingent included Susan Gallon (France, marine biologist), Ida Olsson (Sweden, polar bear expert), Natasa Briski (Slovenia, journalist), and group leader Felicity Aston (Iceland/UK). Felicity was the first woman to ski across Antarctica solo, amply preparing her for a trip to the North Pole.

The Helicopter picks up the group – Photo by Renan Ozturk

With nail-biting tension which slowly builds, the all-female expeditioners train in Iceland (to learn how to get by in freezing temperature) and Oman (to learn endurance in the shifting sands oddly similar to the snowy north) over the course of two years. The documentary carefully lays out the parameters of the trip, with a keen eye on everything that could go wrong. Finally, the ladies are ready. They set off in February 2018 for their icy trek, leaving from Svalbard, Norway, the northernmost inhabited place in the world, and aiming for Barneo, a floating seasonal ice base where expeditions for the North Pole are launched. For seven days, they hike through and around the white expanse dragging their sleds of necessities behind them. With temperatures approaching minus 40 degrees, they continue to push forward. As they listen to ice cracking all around them – and begin to see rivers of frigid blue water pop up in their path – they doggedly continue on. EXPOSURE tells it all with such gripping reality that it almost feels as if each of us is really there among the ice floes trudging forever northwards.

Asma At Thani – Photo courtesy of Powderkeg Studios

The exhausted group finally reaches the North Pole on April 24, 2018, the seventh day of their journey. They beat their time table by three days – and good timing too, since they were very nearly at the limit of safety traveling over the thinly layered, constantly shifting ice. As it turned out, all polar expeditions for the following year were cancelled because of the volatile and shrinking sea ice – and regional political conflicts. The Euro-Arabian team was the last ever to reach the North Pole.

EXPOSURE is a thrilling documentary which tests the limits of human endurance – but it also tells a story of determined women who want to prove that they can do it. This is a must-see film which will entertain – but also set the audience to thinking about artificial boundaries which are sometimes set on their goals. Whether it is a glass ceiling or a polar bear, the film reminds us that nothing should stop people from expanding and experiencing, women included. A meaningful message for all humanity.

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