Snowline Productions

Project Brief

In 2009 British polar explorer, Felicity Aston, set out to create a team of women from the Commonwealth countries of Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom to ski to the South Pole. Offering the opportunity to anyone regardless of age, fitness or experience, she received over 800 applications from ‘ordinary’ women. 

Two short-listed women from each country travel to Norway. For many of the women this is the first time they have ever seen snow or experienced subzero temperatures. Felicity and her team train the women for survival in such extreme winter conditions, teaching them to ski and to camp out in the snow. ‘Call of the White’ introduces the women and follows them through the training and selection procedure as Felicity and her team choose the women who will go on the expedition to the South Pole. 

Eight months later the film joins the women again as they arrive in Antarctica. While the team prepare to ski to the South Pole they are hit by a terrifying blizzard which destroys their tents. With the expedition in jeopardy the team mend the tents as best they can only to find that the Jamaican team member, Kim, has been struck by severe frostbite on the tips of six fingers. Kim is forced to leave the expedition which prompts an emotional self-analysis by team leader Felicity who feels responsible for the incident. The team are subjected to a vigorous investigation by the base camp’s safety manager who feels that the women are not well enough prepared to undertake the planned expedition and that they risk further injury by continuing. The team face being sent home without even having started their expedition.

Following a last minute reprieve the team are allowed to proceed but their journey towards the Pole is not without incident. The women suffer from debilitating blisters and find fuel leaking into their rations which contaminates their food. Perilously short of food, the team face hazardous temperatures, disorientating white-outs, exhaustion, demanding terrain and maddening monotony. Throughout their journey the women film themselves which enables them to share their thoughts and worries with the audience as they inch ever closer to their goal.

After 38-days of relentless effort the team finally arrive at the South Pole and claim six world records between them.  However, this is not just a film about an expedition to the South Pole; this is a film about friendship and determination as well as the universal draw of one of the most extreme environments on Earth - Antarctica.

What we did

Snowline was approached by polar explorer Felicity Aston (who has just completed the first female solo crossing of the Antarctic continent), to produce 'Call of the White', because of the unique nature of the expedition, and the specific difficulties of producing a documentary about it. Produced and edited by Elliott. 

The film has been very well received and has screened at a number of film festivals around the world. We are currently in the process of producing an extended edit for broadcast.