A filmmaker from France has returned to Alaska for the second time in the past decade. On her last trip she cycled 18,000 miles and filmed along the way for a documentary. Now, she’s back for a new project about the state — with Nome on her itinerary.
Sophie Planque is a French director and photographer — she has been making documentaries for French television stations for 15 years.
She last came to Alaska eight years ago, which resulted in a documentary called ‘The Great Traverse.’
“The last one I have done was to cycle from Prudhoe Bay, Deadhorse in Alaska to Ushuaia in Argentina,” Planque said.
She said that trip instilled a love for Indigenous languages. Planque speaks English, French and Spanish, and said she realized the importance of connecting with the cultures and languages of the places she visited.
“They all had their own language and dialects, and it was so inspiring to connect with this,” Planque said. “I could feel how proud they were to stand for their culture and tradition through their language.”
Planque said she wants to work with groups conducting language revitalization programs in Alaska and share their work on French TV.
She said that's a big part of her current trip. This time, she’ll work her way across Alaska’s Interior to conduct initial field work and interviews. She’ll then head back to France to convince TV stations to fund the production for her documentary. If Planque gets the greenlight, she said she'll come back to shoot the full film.
Planque said she wishes to play a small part in highlighting the culture of rural Alaska.
“It’s important to spread the information abroad, because we shall not be ignorant about what is happening around the planet,” Planque said. “We have to get the knowledge and share each other's fights.”
Planque arrived in Fairbanks late last month and is planning to head to Nulato, about 300 miles west of Fairbanks in Alaska’s interior. She then plans to come even further West to Nome on November 22, she plans on stopping in Anchorage after Nome.
If you want to connect with Sophie Planque on her trip, you can contact her at planque.sophie@gmail.com, or her Facebook profile.
