Dawson City: Frozen Time (2017)

Dawson City: Frozen Time unfurls the extraordinary tale of a treasure trove of 500 films, aged from the 1910s-1920s—forgotten relics that lay hidden for over half a century under the frosty cloak of a sub-arctic swimming pool in Dawson City, a settlement nestled 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle. This filmic odyssey delves into the astonishing discovery made in 1978 in the Yukon Territory, using these permafrost-shrouded, rare silent films and newsreels, alongside archival footage, intriguing interviews, and evocative historical photographs to weave its narrative. Exquisitely underscored by Alex Somers, a collaborator of Sigur Rós and renowned composer for Captain Fantastic, the film paints a vivid tableau of a gold rush town's transformation. It charts the life journey of this singular film collection, tracing its exile, burial, rediscovery, and salvation. More than a chronicle of celluloid, it explores how a First Nation hunting camp, the ancestral home of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in tribe, was morphed into a bustling hub of gold mining, and later, a sealed vault of memories from the flourishing culture that supplanted it. Dawson City, strategically placed at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers and resting on a bed of permafrost, was thrust into prominence in 1896 with the discovery of gold in its vibrant creeks. This sparked the Klondike Goldrush, luring 100,000 prospectors to this once quiet corner of the world—the same year the globe was captivated by the dawn of commercial cinema and the birth of the "movie theater". Dawson City: Frozen Time is a poignant reflection on this intersection of history, a transfixing journey through time that reverberates with the echoes of a forgotten era.

Dawson City: Frozen Time is a documentary movie featuring Kathy Jones-Gates.

Dawson City: Frozen Time is currently streaming for free (ad-supported) on Kanopy and it's also available on OVID.

It is also possible to buy Dawson City: Frozen Time on Amazon Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Kino Now, Vudu and YouTube.