While many of us grumble and moan about winter’s extended stay into what – according to the calendar – should be the spring season, there are others that aren’t quite so eager to see everything melt away. In fact, when it comes to the issue of climate control, the idea of losing the ice and snow seems much less than ideal.

Yes, a few piles of snow here and there in our town might not seem so huge, but the people of Erie will get a chance to see the shrinking of glaciers at a not-so-glacial pace on the big screen when critically-acclaimed documentary “Chasing Ice” comes to FILM at the Erie Art Museum Wednesday, April 10. Part of FILM’s weekly Wednesday series, which has brought in big-buzz movies such as the Academy Award-nominated “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Chasing Ice,” which was also nominated for an Academy Award (Best Original Song), chronicles environmental photographer James Balog’s mission to provide evidence of climate change and the disappearing glaciers he and his team come across.

The night, which is sponsored, yes, Reader readers, by the Erie Reader itself, promises to bring more than just director Jeff Orlowski’s hauntingly beautiful images to the Art Museum. In fact, it will help bring the director himself to the screen. After the documentary, which starts at 7 p.m., the Reader’s own Managing Editor Ben Speggen will lead a Q&A with a Skyped-in Orlowski to discuss a documentary that has won awards at Sundance Film Festival, South By Southwest Film Festival, and other reputable film destinations.

If the post-documentary Q&A isn’t enough discussion for you, then we’ve got something in mind for you conversationalists out there. Following the Q&A following “Chasing Ice,” the Reader will be hosting “Breaking Ice: A Meet and Greet with the Erie Reader,” where you can congregate with the lovely people behind our fine paper at U Pick 6 Tap House whilst having some fine adult beverages.

Whether you’re a cinephile, an environmentalist, or stalking one of our Reader writers, “Chasing Ice” nice offers the gift of film at FILM, as well as the chance to hang out with some cool characters in real life.

This article by Alex Bieler, ’11, originally published in the Erie Reader on Apr. 3, 2013.