South is the rare film record of one of the most incredible adventure stories of all time: Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctica expedition of 1914 - 1917.

South is the rare film record of  one of the most incredible adventure stories of all time: Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctica expedition of 1914 - 1917.

Just as war was starting in Europe, Shackleton and his men set sail in August 1914 with the aim of crossing the Antarctic continent from one coast to the other via the South Pole. On 19 January 1915, their ship Endurance became locked in the ice of the Weddell Sea. Over the course of the next nine months the ship was gradually crushed, finally sinking on 27 October 1915.

Crossing of 800 miles in the stormiest Ocean in the world

It proved impossible for the 28 men on board to drag their boats and stores across the frozen sea, so Shackleton camped on the ice and drifted with it. The men were eventually rescued after five crew members sailed across 800 miles of wild seas in the Southern Ocean (the stormiest in the world!) in an open boat (photo right) until they reached South Georgia.

The film was directed by Australian photographer Frank Hurley (1885-1962), who "was a superb and courageous photographer".

Fearless and innovative, Hurley climbed masts, trekked across quivering ice, and ventured into the frigid night to take his extraordinary pictures. He dove into icy water to retrieve his glass-plate negatives after the "Endurance" sank.

This is a rare film about an incredible adventure at the turn of the century.

The film has been restored by the National Film and Television Archive and has been tinted and toned to match the original prints.

Price: £4/3 Concessions