National Geographic Channel’s reality show Life Below Zero is back tomorrow, Tuesday, for its 11th season of following people who live in remote areas of Alaska during the winter.
This new season, which airs Tuesdays at 9 ET, will include the show’s 100th episode. The celebration of the series reaching that milestone will include a Jan. 1, 2019, day-long marathon of favorite episodes.
The show just won its third Emmy, for cinematography in a reality program, the same category it won in 2016.
This year, Emmys were awarded to directors of photography Danny Day, John Griber, Mike Cheeseman, Simeon Houtman, and Terry Pratt, and to camera operators Rob Gowler, David Lovejoy, and Ben Mullin.
Life Below Zero’s cinematography is evident in the opening minutes of the new season, from the b-roll of nature to the drone shots of Agnes and Chip Hailstone as they make their way downriver to go hunting and encounter some difficulty.
Besides Chil and Agnes, and series regulars Sue Aikens, Chip and Agnes Hailstone, Andy Bassich, Jessie Holmes, and Glenn Villeneuve, there’s a new cast member for Life Below Zero season 11, Ricko DeWilde, who has lived away from populated areas for more than 18 years, and, as a native Athabascan Indian, was also raised in Alaska.
Interview: Life Below Zero’s Sue Aikens on filming her life in Alaska. (Photo by Jared Staeyaert/BBC Worldwide Ltd)
Find out what will happen with each cast member this season, and also what happened to Sue’s lawsuit against the show over her snowmachine crash.
Following these cast members’ lives is the work of a “daring and creative crew,” according to National Geographic’s press release, which says their work involves “daunting and challenging situations”:
“They’ve shot the series in temperatures as low as minus 40 F, and often carry backpacks of batteries that weigh more than 100 pounds. The crew masterminded a technique, powered by solar energy, that withstood the harsh climate to record a 17-day long time lapse. In the winter months they may see a few hours of twilight—no full sun—each day.”
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