In a legendary feat of leadership and perseverance, polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton kept his crew of 27 men alive for over a year despite the loss of their ship in frigid pack ice in 1915. More than a century later, a team of modern-day explorers set out to find the sunken ship.
From National Geographic Documentary Films and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, and Natalie Hewit, ENDURANCE, that premieres on National Geographic (DStv 181, Starsat 220) across Africa, on Sunday, November 3 at 21:00 (CAT) tells the inspiring stories of these two landmark expeditions, bound by their shared grit and determination. An additional broadcast will take place on Friday 8 November at 20:30.
The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust organised and funded the expedition to locate the shipwreck off the coast of Antarctica, where the Endurance sank in 1915. The ship remained inaccessible and undiscovered for more than a century until its discovery on March 5, 2022, 100 years after Sir Ernest Shackleton’s death. The expedition was led by polar geographer Dr. John Shears with marine archaeologist Mensun Bound as director of exploration and Nicolas (Nico) Vincent as expedition subsea manager.
Joining them on board the South African icebreaker Agulhas II, which set sail from Cape Town, was a crew of scientists, archaeologists, and a team of highly experienced extreme environment filmmakers, led by director Natalie Hewit and Dan Snow, who documented the events leading up to the historic discovery in real time for History Hit. To help locate the shipwreck, the team used submersibles called Saab Sabretooths equipped with 4k cameras and lighting arrays. The ship continues to remain untouched and without any artefacts removed, but the results of the discovery will provide significant insights into Ernest Shackleton’s imperial trans-Antarctic expedition and offer an incredible opportunity to bring the stories of Shackleton and the 27 men on his crew to new generations.
“We have dedicated our careers to telling stories about the edge of human experience, exploration and possibility,” said directors Vasarhelyi and Chin.
“Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance is the definitive true story of adventure and survival against all odds. With the discovery of his long-lost ship — which sank over 100 years ago in the unforgiving Weddell Sea, by a group of fearless explorers and scientists, we are able to revisit Shackleton’s story of hardship, bravery and leadership with a fresh lens. We are thrilled to be able to work with Nat Hewit and the team and look forward to using cutting-edge technology to bring this story of friendship, grit, inspiration and discovery to contemporary audiences of all ages.”
Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are the directors and producers of “Free Solo,” which was awarded a BAFTA and the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2019. Their first film together, “Meru,” won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015 and was on the 2016 Oscar® shortlist for Best Documentary Feature. More recently, they directed the BAFTA- and DGA-nominated documentary “The Rescue,” chronicling the against-all-odds rescue of 12 boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in northern Thailand.
National Geographic Documentary Films previously released the Academy Award, BAFTA and seven-time Emmy Award-winning film “Free Solo” and the Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning film “The Cave.” In 2022, they released Oscar and BAFTA nominated “Fire of Love,” two-time Sundance Award-winner “The Territory,” critically acclaimed “Retrograde” as well as the short film “The Flagmakers,” all of which were shortlisted for a 2023 Academy Award. In 2021, they released BAFTA nominees “The Rescue” and “Becoming Cousteau,” and three-time Emmy Award winner “The First Wave.” Other critically acclaimed films under the banner include “Fauci”; “Torn”; Emmy-nominated “We Feed People” and “Rebuilding Paradise” from Ron Howard; Sundance Audience Award winners “Science Fair” and “Sea of Shadows”; Emmy winners “LA 92” and “Jane,” both of which were included in the top 15 documentaries considered for an Academy Award in 2017; and Dupont Award winner “Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of Isis.”
Endurance, By Academy Award®-Winning Directors Chai Vasarhelyi And Jimmy Chin, along with Bafta-Nominated Director Natalie Hewit is Based on the Successful Search To Find the Lost Ship of Antarctic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton.