
“A Film Is Like a Puzzle” | Vladimir de Fontenay, Sukkwan Island

Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why?
In many ways, a film is like a puzzle. It is a slow and gradual process that is often very challenging depending on the number of pieces you’re missing. But because of the story, and the way in which we filmed it—backwards—it was especially true of Sukkwan Island.
Roy agrees to spend a formative year of adventure with his father deep in the Norwegian fjords on a remote island, and as he does it, he tries to piece back the story of his family somehow. What starts as a chance to reconnect descends into a test of survival as they face the harsh realities of their environment and confront their unresolved turmoil.
A day I’ll remember forever was when we filmed Tom and Roy as they arrived in a floatplane with all their luggage, to their own island, for the very first time. It happened toward the very end of our shoot and, interestingly, although we had been filming in the same area for months, from high up, it was like we could see the land where we filmed, the lakes, the ocean… for the very first time.
I am generally not a big fan of establishing shots; I tend to like when the action unfolds first, only to get a sense of where you are later. But this time it wasn’t happening at the scale of just a scene, but almost at the scale of the whole film. It was very disorienting and exciting at the same time.
That day, what we were getting was the ultimate missing piece. And witnessing it in the air, at the same time as the actors, was just magical. It was also just us in the tiny Cessna: me; Swann; Woody; Amine, the DOP; and a very sweet Norwegian pilot. We were gliding in the clouds, above the majestic fjords… with big smiles on our faces. The sound of the engine was soothing… It was so beautiful.
I was speaking directly to the pilot, there was no direct line to the small airport base anymore where the rest of our team was waiting because we were so far away. And I remember telling him, “keep going, do a bigger loop, let’s chase the sun….”
I didn’t want to go back to land.
That very day I didn’t want the puzzle to be complete.
See all responses to our annual Sundance Question here.