For immediate release

Viewers will get Chills  with Fernbank Museum’s New Film

"The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness” premieres on Feb. 27. 

ATLANTA, GA, Jan. 30, 2024 — This winter, guests at Fernbank Museum can travel to the northern-most corner of Alaska in the new Giant Screen film, “The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness.” Explore this vast land and its effect on the world when the film premieres on Feb. 27.

“The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness” takes audiences to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge— a remote corner of the globe covering 19.6 million acres. Narrated by Princess Daazhraii Johnson, a member of the Neets’aii Gwich’in nation, and Florian Schulz, a photographer for National Geographic, this film explores how  the land’s diverse ecosystem and its deep connections to the Indigenous tribes from the region.

As a photographer for National Geographic, Schulz captures extraordinary events in the wild, including the great caribou migration, which is the longest land migration of any animal on Earth. The audience witnesses this lifeforce of the Arctic, as well as the migration of nearly 200 different species of birds, musk oxen mating rituals, polar bears hunting for food and more.

“The   Arctic, in fact, is teeming with life,” Schulz said. “From the massive caribou herds roaming across a blooming tundra to the mighty polar bear, from otherworldly muskox to myriad of migratory birds that return every year to their nesting grounds. It is a truly extraordinary realm.”  

The caribou migration is also a symbiotic relationship with the two nations present in this northern-most part of Alaska: the Inupiat and the Neets’aii Gwich’in, of which Daazhraii Johnson is a member of. Audiences can witness firsthand this land’s ecological importance and how it sustains all living creatures in an area that’s left mainly untouched, which is accented by the fact that there is not a road or power line in sight.

“The urgency to protect the Arctic Refuge, to defend the sacred, has never been greater,” Daazhraii Johnson said. “When I saw the image of the Porcupine Caribou Herd , I also felt the spirit of my Ancestors. It’s a deeply emotional sight to behold and I’m grateful that a larger audience might realize why this place is worth protecting.”  

This film aims to show the wonders of the Arctic and what could happen if the ecosystem is severely altered by human activity. After viewing “The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness,” audiences will not only leave in awe of the natural beauty found in this vast land and the deep connection it has among Indigenous people,  but also with a deeper understanding of the importance of protecting this untouched corner of the Earth for generations to come.

Cosmic Picture presents The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness, a Terra Mater Factual Studios production in co-production with Campion Advocacy Fund in association with Florian Schulz Productions. 

Sponsored locally by the Isdell Family Foundation. Additional support provided by the Frances Wood Wilson Foundation.

Tickets

General admission tickets include three floors of exhibits in the natural history museum, choice of one giant screen film, and 75 acres of nature explorations in Fernbank Forest and WildWoods. Fernbank After Dark and some other special after-hours events are available at a separate ticket price. Fernbank is located at 767 Clifton Road NE in Atlanta, minutes from midtown Atlanta and downtown Decatur.

For more information, visit FernbankMuseum.org. Tickets are $25.95 for adults, $24.95 for seniors, $23.95 for children ages 3-12, free for children ages 2 and younger, and free for Fernbank Members. These prices are for tickets purchased online at FernbankMuseum.org. Tickets not purchased in advance are offered, if available, at a higher price at the Box Office. More information is available at FernbankMuseum.org.

Media Inquiries 

Jena Allison, Communications Manager  

Jena.Allison@FernbankMuseum.org 

404.929.6381  

About Fernbank 

Fernbank is one of the most popular and iconic cultural destinations in Atlanta. Known as Atlanta's Science and Nature Experience, Fernbank invites guests to discover a World of Wow through an expansive natural history museum, 4-story giant screen theater, and 75 acres of nature adventures in WildWoods and Fernbank Forest. One of the oldest not-for-profit conservation organizations in the country, Fernbank was founded in 1939 to preserve Fernbank Forest, the largest urban, old growth, Piedmont forest in the United States. The museum and giant screen theater opened as "a school in the woods for nature studies" on Oct. 5, 1992, and is today known for its giant dinosaurs, hands-on STEAM* programming, immersive experiences, and year-round nature exploration. Visit fernbankmuseum.org for more information and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and TikTok.

*Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.