About the film

Each winter, alone in the ice deserts of Antarctica, the most inhospitable terrain on Earth, emperor penguins begin a remarkable journey. By the thousands they abandon the security of their home in the Antarctic Ocean and clamber onto the frozen ice to make a long journey of more than seventy miles to their breeding ground, in a region so bleak and so extreme it supports no other life at this time of the year. Once they have reached the breeding ground and paired off, the female Emperor Penguin remains long enough to lay a single egg. She then leaves the egg in the care of her mate, who keeps it on his feet, protected from the harsh weather by a flap of skin on his belly. She returns to the sea to eat, exhausted after all this time with no food, while he carries on for another two months without food, protecting the egg. Only then does the mother return, her belly now full with food for the chick, and the father leaves. In this way they will take turns over the next couple of months to provide for their chick, one remaining with the chick while the other hunts for food, until the chicks are old enough to take their first dive into the sea at the end of summer.

Crew & Awards

La Marche de L'Empereur was directed by Luc Jacquet, who also co-wrote the original French screenplay with Michel Fessler. Charles Berling, Romane Bohringer and Jules Sitruk provided narration for the French version, while Morgan Freeman provides narration for the US version.

The film won the Academy Award in 2006 for Best Documentary.

About fanlistings

A fanlisting is a place for people to come together and declare their love for something, thereby building the biggest list of fans of that thing from around the globe. This hobby began with fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and mushroomed from there. The headquarters for the effort is at the sister networks of TFL and TAFL.