Frida Waara and John Major reflect back on their experiences
MARQUETTE -- For Frida Waara and John Major, filming "Condition One" in Antarctica was an experience they'll never forget.
"There hasn't been a day that I have not spent lots and lots of time reflecting on what Antarctica brought into my life," says Waara, one of Condition One's filmmakers.
The two filmmakers are now looking back at over 50 hours of footage they shot while they were there, remembering the sites they saw and the people they met.
"Folks there work six days a week, nine to ten hours a day, and if somebody needs help, they're there to do it, too," Waara says.
"They're never going to say it can't be done--they'll find a way. They'll fabricate their own parts, they'll make something. That was the aspect, regardless of what weather condition you're in, I think, is the human spirit we wanted to see," says John Major.
And it's these people's stories that they want to tell in their documentary. Their film will take the definition of condition one, which refers to the most severe weather conditions in the South Pole, and connect it to the urban conditions of Detroit by telling the inspirational story of how people deal with adverse environments, whether it be bitter cold temperatures or high unemployment rates and intense crime.
This spring they'll head down to Detroit to start filming the second half of their feature-length film.
"When we're in Detroit, we want to use some of the challenges that city is facing, and use some of the factual elements that exist there, not to show the negative side of Detroit but to show that, in spite of those situations, people are doing some amazing things," Major says.
Working in inner city Detroit will present the team with a different set of challenges than they faced in the Southern Hemisphere. But after witnessing the never give up spirit of the Antarctic people, they're confident they can handle it.
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