Documentary backdrop image for Arctic Drift (2020)

Documentary backdrop image for Arctic Drift (2020)

202089 minPGdocumentary

6.2/ 10(2 ratings)• TMDB

Climate Change Scientific Research

Arctic Drift

202089 minPGdocumentary

6.2/ 10(2 ratings)• TMDB

In September 2019, the German icebreaker 'Polarstern' set out on the largest Arctic expedition ever, aiming to reach the North Pole.

“The Largest Arctic Expedition of All Time”

Climate Change Scientific Research

Genres

Director

Synopsis

In September 2019, the German icebreaker 'Polarstern' set out on the largest Arctic expedition ever, aiming to reach the North Pole.

People

Philipp Griessdirector

Philipp Griesswriter

Stephan Schad

Stephan Schadcast

Stefan Schwarzecast

Synopsis

Onboard the German icebreaker 'Polarstern,' scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research prepare for the largest Arctic expedition in history. Departing in September 2019, the team aims to reach the North Pole while collecting vital data on the ocean, ice, and atmosphere. 'Arctic Drift' captures their year-long mission during the polar night, a period marked by extreme conditions and limited data collection. The film presents the challenges faced by researchers as they utilize the natural drift of ice to gather insights into climate change.

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

What Happens If the Poles Disappear? (2025)

What Happens If the Poles Disappear?

Rapidly melting ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic reveal critical climate change indicators, prompting scientists to study their ecological impacts and ancient secrets.

What Happens If the Poles Disappear?

Arctic IV (2020)

Arctic IV

Five men, led by Dr. Joe McGinnis, lower themselves into the Arctic Ocean for the first time in history to study its underwater environment.

Quest for the Uncharted World: Greenland (2023)

Quest for the Uncharted World: Greenland

A team of scientists and adventurers embarks on a 50-day expedition across 100 kilometers of Greenland's remote Renland Peninsula to study melting glaciers.

Quest for the Uncharted World: Greenland

Alex Honnold Climbs a Glacier (2026)

Alex Honnold Climbs a Glacier

Alex Honnold and glaciologist Heidi Sevestre attempt to climb the Ingmikortilaq sea wall in Greenland while researching climate change's impact on glaciers.

Alex Honnold Climbs a Glacier

Tour of the Arctic (1/2) - from Svalbard to Siberia (2020)

Tour of the Arctic (1/2) - from Svalbard to Siberia

Cruising through the Arctic Ocean at 20 knots an hour, a large cruise ship takes tourists from Svalbard to Eastern Siberia.

Tour of the Arctic (1/2) - from Svalbard to Siberia

Tour of the Arctic (2/2) - from Greenland to Alaska (2020)

Tour of the Arctic (2/2) - from Greenland to Alaska

350 people live in Ittoqqortoormiit, a remote Greenland village 800 kilometers from its nearest neighbor, surrounded by towering icebergs and drifting ice.

Tour of the Arctic (2/2) - from Greenland to Alaska

Saving A $28 Million Antarctic Base From A Collapsing Ice Shelf (2025)

Saving A $28 Million Antarctic Base From A Collapsing Ice Shelf

In 2016, a team of scientists undertook a massive operation to relocate the Halley VI Research Station in Antarctica 23 kilometers away from a threatening ice chasm.

Saving A $28 Million Antarctic Base From A Collapsing Ice Shelf

Life On Board A Polar Research Ship (RV Araon) (2025)

Life On Board A Polar Research Ship (RV Araon)

Construction of the Korean Jang Bogo Antarctic Station in Antarctica faces extreme conditions and challenges over five years of site investigations and building efforts.

Life On Board A Polar Research Ship (RV Araon)

Extreme climate research - On the road in the icefields of Patagonia (2024)

Extreme climate research - On the road in the icefields of Patagonia

Patagonia's icefields challenge climate researchers like Tobias Sauter, who, alongside mountaineers Robert Jasper and Jörn Heller, seeks vital data on climate change impacts.

Extreme climate research - On the road in the icefields of Patagonia

Arctic & Antarctic: Conquering the Poles | Masters of Engineering (2021)

Arctic & Antarctic: Conquering the Poles | Masters of Engineering

The conquest of the Arctic and Antarctic has evolved from exploration to a focus on studying climate change and the causes of ice melting in these regions.

Arctic & Antarctic: Conquering the Poles | Masters of Engineering

Influenza: The Hundred Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History (2019)

Influenza: The Hundred Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History

The 1918 influenza pandemic killed more people worldwide than combat during World War One.

Influenza: The Hundred Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History

The Way into Space - From Planet Earth to Infinity (2019)

The Way into Space - From Planet Earth to Infinity

A delta 4 heavy rocket, with a thrust equivalent to around 50 million horsepower, successfully launched the Orion spacecraft into Earth orbit.

The Way into Space - From Planet Earth to Infinity

Explore Arctic Drift

Cast & Crew Topics FAQ Stream

Where else to watch

The Last Continent (2007)

The Last Continent

2007•2h•★5.0TMDB

A crew spends 430 days aboard the Sedna IV in Antarctica to measure the impacts of global warming in one of the planet's most vulnerable regions.

The Last Continent

Into the Ice (2022)

Into the Ice

2022•1h25m•★7.4TMDB

Three leading scientists analyze ice cores from the Greenland ice sheet to gather data on historical climate patterns and current climate change.

The Polar Sea (2014)

The Polar Sea

2014•43m•★7.0TMDB

A 10-part television series follows an amateur expedition through the Northwest Passage during a summer of significant change in the Arctic.

Antarctica: The Frozen Time (2021)

Antarctica: The Frozen Time

2021•1h27m•★7.1TMDB

Only two percent of Antarctica's biodiversity is documented, primarily hidden beneath its icy surface, revealing a largely unexplored ecosystem.

Antarctica: The Frozen Time

My Journey with a Polar Bear (2019)

My Journey with a Polar Bear

2019•44m•★8.0TMDB

Four years of filming reveal the struggles of a polar bear mother named Frost as she searches for food in a rapidly changing Arctic environment.

My Journey with a Polar Bear

Polar Extremes (2020)

Polar Extremes

2020•1h53m•★5.0TMDB

Fossil discoveries in the polar regions reveal that beech trees once thrived in Antarctica and hippo-like mammals roamed the Arctic.

The Earthing Movie (2019)

The Earthing Movie

2019•1h15m•★8.5TMDB

Standing barefoot on the earth can promote healing in the body, according to a 75-minute documentary released in 2019.

The Earthing Movie

Merkel (2022)

Merkel

2022•1h37m•★7.0TMDB

16 years of Angela Merkel's leadership as Chancellor of Germany saw her address major issues like the European debt crisis and climate change.

Browse more like this

What Happens If the Poles Disappear? (2025)

What Happens If the Poles Disappear?

Rapidly melting ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic reveal critical climate change indicators, prompting scientists to study their ecological impacts and ancient secrets.

What Happens If the Poles Disappear?

No digital watch option in your country

Alex Honnold Climbs a Glacier (2026)

Alex Honnold Climbs a Glacier

Alex Honnold and glaciologist Heidi Sevestre attempt to climb the Ingmikortilaq sea wall in Greenland while researching climate change's impact on glaciers.

Alex Honnold Climbs a Glacier

No digital watch option in your country

Tour of the Arctic (1/2) - from Svalbard to Siberia (2020)

Tour of the Arctic (1/2) - from Svalbard to Siberia

Cruising through the Arctic Ocean at 20 knots an hour, a large cruise ship takes tourists from Svalbard to Eastern Siberia.

Tour of the Arctic (1/2) - from Svalbard to Siberia

No digital watch option in your country

Tour of the Arctic (2/2) - from Greenland to Alaska (2020)

Tour of the Arctic (2/2) - from Greenland to Alaska

350 people live in Ittoqqortoormiit, a remote Greenland village 800 kilometers from its nearest neighbor, surrounded by towering icebergs and drifting ice.

Tour of the Arctic (2/2) - from Greenland to Alaska

No digital watch option in your country

Saving A $28 Million Antarctic Base From A Collapsing Ice Shelf (2025)

Saving A $28 Million Antarctic Base From A Collapsing Ice Shelf

In 2016, a team of scientists undertook a massive operation to relocate the Halley VI Research Station in Antarctica 23 kilometers away from a threatening ice chasm.

Saving A $28 Million Antarctic Base From A Collapsing Ice Shelf

No digital watch option in your country

Life On Board A Polar Research Ship (RV Araon) (2025)

Life On Board A Polar Research Ship (RV Araon)

Construction of the Korean Jang Bogo Antarctic Station in Antarctica faces extreme conditions and challenges over five years of site investigations and building efforts.

Life On Board A Polar Research Ship (RV Araon)

No digital watch option in your country

Extreme climate research - On the road in the icefields of Patagonia (2024)

Extreme climate research - On the road in the icefields of Patagonia

Patagonia's icefields challenge climate researchers like Tobias Sauter, who, alongside mountaineers Robert Jasper and Jörn Heller, seeks vital data on climate change impacts.

Extreme climate research - On the road in the icefields of Patagonia

No digital watch option in your country

Arctic & Antarctic: Conquering the Poles | Masters of Engineering (2021)

Arctic & Antarctic: Conquering the Poles | Masters of Engineering

The conquest of the Arctic and Antarctic has evolved from exploration to a focus on studying climate change and the causes of ice melting in these regions.

Arctic & Antarctic: Conquering the Poles | Masters of Engineering

No digital watch option in your country

The Way into Space - From Planet Earth to Infinity (2019)

The Way into Space - From Planet Earth to Infinity

A delta 4 heavy rocket, with a thrust equivalent to around 50 million horsepower, successfully launched the Orion spacecraft into Earth orbit.

The Way into Space - From Planet Earth to Infinity

No digital watch option in your country

A Year in the Ice: The Arctic Drift (2021)

A Year in the Ice: The Arctic Drift

2021•1h8m•★8.2TMDB

A team of 300 scientists conducts research in the Arctic over the course of a year to gather data on climate change and its global impact.

A Year in the Ice: The Arctic Drift

Exit the north pole (2022)

Exit the north pole

2022•52m•★9.0TMDB

1,500 km of treacherous ice await polar explorer Børge Ousland and adventurer Mike Horn as they ski across the thinning polar cap.

Exit the north pole

Arctic: Our Frozen Planet (2023)

Arctic: Our Frozen Planet

2023•42m•★7.0TMDB

Thousands of years of Inuit culture and survival in the Arctic face new threats as climate change accelerates in this fragile ecosystem.

Arctic: Our Frozen Planet

Polar Bear - Spy on the Ice (2011)

Polar Bear - Spy on the Ice

2011•1h40m•★7.5TMDB

Advanced spy cameras capture intimate moments of polar bears as they adapt to their shrinking ice habitat in the Arctic.

Polar Bear - Spy on the Ice

Browse more by Philipp Griess

View all films →

Die Autoschrauber der Serengeti (2025)

Die Autoschrauber der Serengeti

2025

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →