Combine the investigative slant of Al Gore's environmental call-to-arms An Inconvenient Truth with the destructive, mind-blowing visuals of Koyaanisqatsi or Tree of Life and the final product would be something like the new documentary Chasing Ice. Director Jeff Orlowski joined forces with nature photographer Jim Balog to chronicle the evolution of Balog's latest project: the Extreme Ice Survey. With scientific research already corroborating claims of global warming, the goal of Balog's EIS is to present undeniable visual evidence, utilizing time-lapse photography to capture the destruction of the planet's glaciers.

Orlowski never misses a beat in unfolding Balog's journey, which requires the adventureman to climb mountains, scale walls of ice, swing across rapid rivers of freezing cold water and mount cameras in places only a madman would dare to go. The task wasn't an easy one—in the beginning of EIS, the time-lapse cameras were malfunctioning, and Balog had doubted his plan could work—but when the EIS team finally got the kinks out, the resulting footage was both terrifying and beautiful. Maybe an hour and a half of snowy photography doesn't sound invigorating, but the building pressure of our ecological problem, coupled with the awe-inspiring imagery of glaciers calving into the depths of the oceans, makes Chasing Ice one the most emotional rides of the Sundance Film Festival.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Orlowski and Balog to discuss the making of this challenging film, the duo's hopes for playing the film for the skeptics who need to see it (the movie was picked up by National Geographic Channel) and on the continued efforts of EIS. They're two brilliant guys with lots to say, and you can watch the full interview in the video below:

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