Planet in Focus: The Polar Explorer

I didn’t think they’d be a particularly captive audience but after yesterday’s screening at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) of The Polar Explorer at the Planet in Focus Film Festival, I realized the opposite is true. A group of 160 school children from grades 6 to 9 gathered to watch the film, which follows an historic journey to the Northwest Passage and features ten of the world’s foremost polar scientists as they discover the stunning rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic.

Dr. Pete Ewins and the Panda (c) Pete Ewins/WWF-Canada
After the film, the students had a chance to ask the filmmaker, Mark Terry, and WWF’s Senior Arctic Species Expert, Dr. Pete Ewins, some questions. These kids were super enthusiastic! Their questions went on for so long that we ran out of time. The film definitely made these kids think. Some of them had no problem displaying their passion for finding solutions to the growing problem of climate change.
Ending on a positive note, we brought our ever-popular Panda mascot out to say hello and he was welcomed with big hugs and many cheers!
Planet in Focus is showing fantastic environmental films all weekend and young or old, I’d really encourage you to bring the family out to see some of these awe-inspiring and thoughtful movies.