
Antarctica Calling
2023

2013
Director
Luc Jacquet
Runtime
78 minutes
Average Rating
No ratings yetSynopsis
With Once Upon a Forest, Luc Jacquet invites the spectator into a never-before-seen world of natural wonder and staggering beauty. “For the first time, we will be able to watch a rain forest growing before our eyes…Only cinema can offer this unique voyage into a completely untamed universe, a world of perfect balance in which each living thing – from the smallest to the largest – plays an essential role. The film will deliver a complete sensory immersion in the primaeval splendor of one of nature’s richest mysteries, inviting the audience to enter, discover and marvel at a universe of untold treasures while joining its voice to the ever-growing awareness of the need to preserve our world.”
Overall Score
Fair
Category Breakdown
LGBTQ+ Representation
The film focuses on non-human biological processes rather than human social identities. It utilizes a naturalist lens instead of a sociological one, leaving the category neutral.
Gender Representation
Lacking human protagonists, the film bypasses traditional gender hierarchies. Agency is distributed among various species, de-centering human masculinity or femininity in favor of biological imperatives.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
The documentary operates in a non-human context. It avoids anthropocentric racial hierarchies by presenting species diversity as a functional necessity for ecosystem stability.
Religious & Cultural Diversity
The narrative challenges anthropocentric worldviews by prioritizing the forest's voice. It frames the natural world as a sophisticated, self-regulating system independent of human morality.
Disability Representation
Biological struggles are depicted through natural selection rather than a social model of disability. This avoids using biological struggle as a mere plot device or inspiration porn.
Strengths
Areas for Improvement
AI Analysis
Luc Jacquet’s documentary shifts the cinematic lens away from human-centric structures toward a complex, interconnected biological ecosystem. By elevating the agency of non-human entities, the film disrupts the expectation that cinema must revolve around human social hierarchies. The work functions as a meditation on ecological balance. It frames the environment as a sovereign entity rather than a resource to be managed, aligning with progressive environmental ethics. While the film does not engage with human identity politics, it performs a significant deconstruction of the 'human-as-center' trope through its immersive, sensory-driven narrative.

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