La Glace et le Ciel

I first met Claude Lorius at the French Geographical Institute in October 2011. We had heard about each other and we got on immediately. We had lived the same adventures, 40 years apart. We spoke about our experiences in the Antarctic, about how it feels to withdraw from the world. We realized we were using the same words to speak about it and were filled with the same fascination for that part of the planet. I had also been amazed by his book Voyage dans l’Anthropocène, which I regard as one of the finest pieces of scientific writing in recent times. It was he who said, “Why don’t we make a film together?”

I was incredibly moved. Considering Claude’s age, I realized it was now or never, that he could leave us from one moment to the next, that I risked losing his testimony of the moment in history in which humanity was discovering its impact on the planet, something Claude had been the first to document and share. When he published his three now historical articles in the magazine Nature in 1985, he provided irrefutable proof of the connection between the greenhouse gases emitted by human beings and the climate, thus opening the door to an important and totally new science that has made forecasts possible and rang the global alarm bell. But Claude never moved into politics. He has always stuck to producing knowledge, which is why we know so little about him today. My first thought, therefore, was to “save” his testimony. I wanted to hear Claude tell his version of the story and really get to know the man in front of me.

I was aware that I absolutely had to hear him speak about his experience in his own words and explain how, thanks to glaciology, he helped change the way we relate to the world today. It then took me ten days to complete a first set of filmed interviews, making sure that the footage and sound were of high quality. When said he was about to turn 80, I knew we’d be celebrating his birthday in Antarctica!