Synopsis
Roy is a young man haunted by the past. Ten years ago, at thirteen, he agreed to spend a year with his estranged father Tom on a remote island deep in the Norwegian wilderness : a place with no roads, no phones, no people. What was meant to be a chance to reconnect became something far more harrowing. Now an adult, Roy returns to the island one last time before the cabin is torn down, looking for closure, and perhaps for something he can’t quite name.
Trailer
Director’s statement
“I read the book and I was devastated. I couldn’t put my finger on what moved me so much, but it was incredibly powerful.” — Vladimir de Fontenay
Adapted from the novella of the same name by American writer David Vann, published in 2009 in a collection titled Legend of a Suicide, and here adapted for the screen for the first time, Sukkwan Island is a film as brutally physical as it is subtly psychological. To find the ideal setting, Vladimir de Fontenay and his team spent three years scouting locations. The demanding shoot took just 26 days, with a screenplay rewritten through 33 drafts. The film was shot backwards from winter to summer, following the reverse chronology of the story, a constraint that turned into a formative experience for the entire crew.
At the festival
Screening · Sukkwan Island
Lucernaire, 53, rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, 75006 Paris
Past screening
Cast
Credits
| Director | Vladimir de Fontenay |
|---|---|
| Screenplay | Vladimir de Fontenay — D’après le roman éponyme de David Vann |
| Country · year | France / Norway / Belgium / United Kingdom · 2026 |
| Running time · genre | 1h55 · Drama |
| Language | English |
| Production | Haut et Court |
| Distributor | Haut et Court |
Stills
Feature Film in Competition 2026
Best Actress – Feature Film
FIJA 2026
FIJA 2026
Audience Award – Feature Film
Le Garçon qui faisait danser les collines
FIJA 2026
Pass Culture Award
FIJA 2026
Best Feature Film
FIJA 2026
FIJA 2026
FIJA 2026
