• PROGRAMME
• SYNOPSES

Horizon: snowball earth

1. Original Title: Horizon: snowball earth
2. Director: Chris Durlacher
3. Photography: Marcus Birsel, Sergey Dubrovsky
4. Sound: David Lindsay, John Cameron, Joseph Keppler, Andy Cottom
5. Producer: Chris Durlacher
6. Production: BBC/Discovery Channel
7. Executive Producer: John Lynch
8. United Kingdom
9. 49 min.
10. 2001

Temperatures below -40°, even at the Tropics and at the Equator, a dense layer of ice covering the entire terrestrial crust. How was the Earth composed three million years ago, at the time it was in the grip of what was called the Ice Age? There are doubts, and in effect the controversial theory whereby a period of intense cold meant that the planet was under a layer of ice, more than a kilometre deep, is still debated.
The conformation of several rocks and the history of the evolution of living beings lead us to suppose that there really was an Ice Age and the hypotheses formulated to explain glaciation are all referable to cosmic and planetary theories or to telluric hypotheses.
For over 50 years a group of scientists sought to demonstrate the existence of this incredible period of the Earth’s history. They battled against scepticism and disbelief, and now the numerous mysteries have been resolved and the scientific community is slowly getting used to the extraordinary idea not only of the great cold, but also of the thaw. The documentary unravels the tale of the theory that would have such enormous implications if it were to be true.

Prix Best documentary at the XI Prix Leonardo Festival, Parma, 2001

Other projections:

VEDERE LA SCIENZA 2002

• Milano
  9/4/2002-14/4/2002
• Firenze
  9/4/2002-14/4/2002
• Ferrara
  10/4/2002-18/4/2002