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Main Feature: Into the White

A century ago, the British Antarctic Expedition seemed on the brink of winning what was the ultimate prize in exploration - the conquest of the South Pole. The expedition leader, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, had visited the continent before, in the Discovery Expedition of 1901-04. In fact, this was the fifth British expedition to Antarctica since 1898 - this was truly, as the history books record, a 'heroic age' of exploration.

To mark the release of the BFI National Archive's restoration of Herbert Ponting's astonishing eyewitness account of Scott's great endeavour, The Great White Silence (1924) and the centenary of the expedition itself, we've assembled a fascinating collection of films from the 'heroic age' and beyond. The films demonstrate how the valiant efforts of Scott, Shackleton and others live on in countless retellings of their great stories, inspiring generations of scientists, naturalists and explorers.

Polar Exploration

Still from The Great White Silence (1924)

The Great White Silence (1924)

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