Endurance (CERT TBC)

The directors of Free Solo and NYAD use one extraordinary expedition to explore our ongoing fascination with human endurance and physical achievement.

In 1915, the ship Endurance sank near Antarctica. Explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew miraculously survived. In a legendary feat of leadership and perseverance, Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton kept alive his crew of 27 men for over a year despite the loss of their ship in frigid pack ice.

In 2022, over a century later, a team of modern-day explorers set out to find the sunken ship. Documenting contemporary polar explorers and drawing on original expedition footage preserved and restored by the BFI National Archive, Endurance is an inspiring celebration of scientific curiosity and the indefatigable human spirit of discovery. 

From National Geographic Documentary Films and directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin and Natalie Hewit, Endurance threads together the inspiring stories of these two landmark expeditions, bound by their shared grit and determination.