Screening Antarctica: Britain, the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, andScott of the Antarctic(1948)

Abstract

AbstractThis paper explores Ealing Studios' cinematic production about Robert Falcon Scott and theTerra Novaexpedition, released to British audiences in 1948. Under the title ofScott of the Antarctic, the film recreated the tragic failure of the expedition on its return from the South Pole. The race to the South Pole had ended with victory for Roald Amundsen and post-colonial Norway. Three decades later, Britain again found itself involved in an intense territorial competition with two post-colonial states, Argentina and Chile. In the midst of decolonisation, the postwar government under Prime Minister Clement Attlee was engaged in a ‘cold war’ in Antarctica. The Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) had been created in order to protect sovereignty claims to the Antarctic Peninsula. While some attention has been given to the cultural significance ofScott of the Antarctic, there has been little geopolitical commentary on this film. As an empty space devoid of indigenous populations, Antarctica was invitingly incomplete. Produced with the co-operation of the Scott Polar Research Institute and FIDS, this film depicted a failed imperial project at a time when Britain desperately needed scientific practices such as mapping to consolidate territorial sovereignty. The paper explores the actual filming process along with the verdicts of contemporary critics in order to make a critical appraisal of Britain's changing role in Antarctica. It is sobering to note that while FIDS was supporting the filmScott of the Antarctic, Argentina was attempting to indoctrinate a new generation of schoolchildren about the realities of the Argentine Antarctic sector.