Extreme! – From Freezer to Furnace

This is a journey to the hottest and coldest places on earth, where people go about their everyday lives under extreme conditions – and even enjoy it.

The Northern Pole of Cold, where the northern hemisphere’s lowest air temperature of minus 71.2 degrees Celsius has been recorded, lies in north-east Siberia. Thousands of miles away lies America’s answer to the record-holding Russian village: Furnace Creek, headquarters of Death Valley National Park. Another infamous blast furnace is the Danakil Depression in the borderland between Eritrea and Ethiopia – one of the most forbidding deserts on earth, a volcanic wasteland almost 150 meters below sea level, which boasts the highest measured annual average temperature: 34.6 degrees Celsius. Directed by Udo Mauer, written by Manfred Christ and Udo Maurer. A co-production of Cosmos Factory for ORF in association with Fremantle Media.