Zed
Travel & Adventure 6x52'

Under The Pole - collection

A team of tireless adventurers and experimented divers takes us on an expedition to explore the hidden faces of the Arctic, the cold depths of Greenlands’ fjords and the hot waters of French Polynesia. To reach this goal, they will be surrounded by a multidisciplinary team of experts (sailors, scientists, photographers, researchers and doctors). A fabulous human and scientific adventure that immerses us into the unknown.

Episode 1: Dive into the frigid waters of the Arctic to discover an awe-inspiring silent universe under the ice in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. In this underwater polar expedition, the team spends two months trekking by foot over ice floes to reach the destination. Once there, our fearless crew takes the ultimate plunge – scuba diving underneath the ice at the North Pole! They overcome incredible obstacles to conduct their research and give us all a rare glimpse of the ice from below. As climate change threatens the ice cap, this unique photographic and cinematographic documentary is a real testimony that shows the world just what is at risk.

Episode 2: Several years later, our team throws itself a new great and unprecedented challenge: dive at 100 meters in the polar abyss, in the heart of Greenland’s most breathtaking fjords, to reach virgin depths still uncharted by researchers and to collect new data for scientists around the world. An ambitious 8-month-long expedition over 2500 kilometers of Greenland’s coasts to achieve 200 dives between 0 and 100 meters. A feat never accomplished before. What will they find down there? How will their bodies cope in such extreme conditions?

Episode 3: Ghislain and Emmanuelle immerse us in a new exploration in the grip of the polar winter: eight months encompassing the winter on board a polar sailing boat. When their ship is locked in the icy waters off Greenland, it provides an exceptional opportunity to study the effects of climate change both above and beneath the ice sheet.  Trapped in the ice, they interact with the local Inuit population, whose harsh existence they share. In these extreme conditions, the dives beneath the ice require ever more commitment. Part scientific exploration, part shared existence with the Inuit, this human adventure reveals to us the never-before-seen depths of this fascinating world in the throes of upheaval. 

Episode 4: Ghislain and Emmanuelle Bardout and the UTP team take us on a new expedition through the Northwest Passage to discover this mythical seaway that symbolizes the evolution of the polar world. They will dive into never-before-seen depths (up to -150 meters) into the “twilight zone”, to find the first biofluorescent Arctic species. A fabulous human and scientific adventure that immerses us in inhospitable territory.

Episode 5: After becoming the first to film beneath the North Pole and beating records in terms of deep diving in Arctic waters, Ghislain and Emmanuelle Bardout are now heading for the South Pacific to explore the corals of the deep. Aboard the Why, in the company of scientists, they will study how these reefs function, with the hope of capturing on film the dazzling spectacle of the corals spawning. Thanks to aerial footage and never-before-seen underwater film gathered during dives of up to 150m in previously unexplored waters, they will reveal this fascinating world. A human adventure at the heart of Polynesian culture, that reveals the evolution of the corals upon which the local population depends for so much.

Episode 6: the Under The Pole collective embarks on an immersive journey through the coral reef of Moorea, during a major breeding season for corals, lemon sharks and humpback whales. Thanks to a new underwater capsule allowing them to live under water 24 hours a day, they observe and film unknown phenomena. A new adventure of 60 days and 60 nights in the heart of Polynesia to better understand the functioning of the reef and the animals that inhabit it. Mixing human adventure, underwater exploration and scientific discoveries, this film tells the extraordinary epic of these new explorers of the oceans.

Direction: Thierry Robert, Jean-Gabriel Leynaud, Pierre Belet, Victor Rault, Vincent Perazio

Production: ZED

Languages: French, English

awards & festivals

  • GALATHEA - Festival International du monde marin

    Jury's favourite

  • Festival International du Film d’Aventure of La Rochelle

    Official selection (episode 5)

  • Les Écrans de l'Aventure of Dijon

    Official selection (episode 5)

  • Adventure Film Festival of La Rochelle

    Pre selection (Episode 4)

  • Autrans Film Festival

    Best Nature & Environment Film

  • Adventure Film Festival of La Rochelle

    Public Award (Episode 2)

see also