Stunning new film “Aquarela” is being described as “the most dangerous documentary ever made,” and not without reason.
A brave crew headed by Victor Kossakovsky endured a fierce Atlantic storm, the full force of Hurricane Irma and shifting ice in Siberia to shoot the film, a beautiful and haunting piece about the power of water.
Director Kossakovsky’s crew arrived in Greenland to film glaciers and icebergs up close, but no ship would take them near for fear of crashing ice tsunamis. By chance, the filmmaker spotted two sailors on a 100-foot schooner who helped them reach perilous proximity.
Upping the risk, he then persuaded the sailors to take his crew — none of whom had sailed before — across the Atlantic, where they faced 30-foot waves, 40-knot winds and the worst storm in 100 years.
Kossakovsky explained at a Cinema Society screening, “There is a saying: The first week of a storm, you think you are going to die. The second week, you want to die. But the third week, you realize you will not die and you have to fight. We had to be close to the water to get the shots . . . we are grateful to be alive.”
The feat of fast-frame-cinema was released by Sony Pictures Classics on Friday.