SUKKWAN ISLAND
A photo essay by Vladimir de Fontenay and Vincent Desailly.
“Tom (Swann Arlaud) takes his thirteen-year-old son (Woody Norman) to spend a year on a remote island in the Far North. This return to a wild way of life, set within a vast and unforgiving landscape, offers a chance to reconnect. But isolation and extreme conditions put their relationship to the test.”
The above synopsis belongs both to the feature film Sukkwan Island and to this essay. The project was shot on and around the set of the feature film of the same name.
Yet it is not a making-of. Rather, it unfolds as a free visual narrative—shaped by the film, yet independent from it. Fragments of the shoot, stolen moments, and constructed images merge into a single, indeterminate space: a work of fiction grounded in reality, questioning the conventions of documentary photography.
Filmed across two periods—winter and spring 2024—above the Arctic Circle in northern Norway.
I co-authored this series with Vladimir, who invited me onto his set and into his film, granting me access to his vision.
—
Sukkwan Island written and directed by Vladimir de Fontenay, adapted from the novel by David Vann.
Starring
Swann Arlaud (Tom)
Woody Norman (Roy, age 13)
Alma Pöysti (Anna)
Ruaridh Mollica (Roy, age 25)
Tuppence Middleton (Elisabeth)
Screenplay and Dialogue: Vladimir De Fontenay
Director of Photography: Amine Berrada
Music: Florent Chronie-de Maria & Jeremy Villecourt
Production Design: Eve Martin
Casting: Matt Western & Nicola Chisholm
Assistant Director: Valérie Wéry, Thomas Colban
Sound Engineer: Mathieu Villien
Editing: Nicolas Chaudeurge
Script Supervisor: Elisabeth Alexandris
Costume Design: Sybille Langh
Makeup: Tanita Aaram
Hair: Saara Räisänen
Executive Producer: Rémi Veyrié
Line Producer: Kristine Borvik Holter Abrahamsen
Produced by Carole Scotta, Eliott Khayat, Caroline Benjo
Co-producers: Synnøve Hørsdal, Petter Onstad Løkke, Julia Andersen, Jacques-Henri Bronckart, Tatjana Kozar, Mike Goodridge, Sydney Oberfeld
