LEARNING IN THE DARK >>>

In the most remote regions of world, where ice caps the size of large cities are rapidly changing, sloughing off chunks, creating rippling avalanches of snow and ice, and ultimately changing life as we know it, National Geographic's James Balog was in the thick of it, risking his life to document the breathtaking landscape shifting before his eyes - and his 25 camera lenses - creating a time-lapse of three year's worth of devastation.

Wish you were there to see it?

A close runner-up to actually being there would to see the spectacle surrounded by warmth with a bag of kick ass popcorn. Balog's Chasing Ice, the film that Huffington Post declares "hauntingly beautiful," will screen at 5 p.m. Saturday during the 9th Annual Olympia Documentary Film Festival at the Capitol Theater.

The weekend long festival screens seven other documentaries including Reel Injun, a look at the evolution of the depiction of First Nations people; Crazy Wisdom, about the bad boy of Buddhism; Detropia, about the woes of Detroit; Bones Brigade, documenting the lives of six skateboarders in the '80s followed by special musical guests Big Business; The Invisible War, about the rape of soldiers within the U.S. military; The Waiting Room, that goes behind the doors of American hospitals and Samsara, a non-verbal guided meditation that will transform viewers.

True to Olympia and the nature of the festival, each handpicked film is compelling, controversial, eye opening and adventurous.

For more information and a complete list of show times, click here.

CAPITOL THEATER, FRIDAY, JAN 25-SUNDAY, JAN 27, TIMES VARY, $8.50, $5.50 OLYMPIA FILM SOCIETY MEMBER, $25-$35 FILM PASSES, 206 FIFTH AVE. SE, OLYMPIA, 360.754.6670