19/03/2026 - We chatted to the Swiss-born director about how he created an emotional experience in his doc focusing on a remote corner of Alaska that gets connected to the internet

A remote corner of Alaska is finally connected to the internet, but what does that mean for the local residents? Selected in competition at CPH:DOX, Arctic Link [+see also:
interview: Ian Purnell
film profile] is a debut film about the technological possibilities of a changing world. We spoke with director Ian Purnell about how he went about creating an emotional experience in his documentary.

Cineuropa: How did you find out about this fibre-optic project in the Aleutian Islands that you followed?
Ian Purnell: It was the result of a very long research phase. My aim was to gain access to one of those ships because I really wanted to physically see the cables and film them – to get closer to the internet and understand what lies behind it. Gaining access in general is very difficult in this field and this industry. I was in conversation about many different projects, most of them in the Arctic or in very remote locations in the Northern Hemisphere. Eventually, we secured access to this one, which also tied in with my growing interest in filming in the Arctic.

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The documentary comprises images of the ship's crew and people on the shore, combined with reflections on the internet and its use.
It was clear to me that I wanted to create an awareness of where the internet comes from and what it is by filming its physicality. The next step was deciding not to have external specialists talking about it, but rather, to have the internet explained through the people who are actually building it. It became more interesting to hear about the internet through the emotions attached to it. We approached people in different locations through their specific emotions or their personal relationship to the internet. So, while filming how they create part of this network and how they explain it, we also explored their personal connection. Because, ultimately, this is the experience I wanted to give the viewer: to make them reflect on where the internet actually comes from, but also reflect on their own relationship to it – to see it from the outside, to a certain extent.

Your documentary makes some very particular and subtle visual choices, and it takes its time. Tell us about the concept.
I tried to narrow it down through the confined spaces we chose to film in: the very small space of the ship and these villages where only about 100 people live. With the concept for the camerawork, we really tried to create a microcosm. The physicality of the internet can be very technical, but we wanted to approach it in a way that would make the inanimate come alive. We often talked about the cable as being a snake or the ship as being a whale – it was a way for the audience to forge a more visceral or emotional connection to this physicality. Overall, the intention was to create an emotional experience, rather than a technical explanation.

You were working on this debut film for ten years. In 2020, you were awarded the Kompagnon Fellowship, a collaboration between Berlinale Talents and Perspektive Deutsches Kino to support directors or screenwriters living and working in Germany with the development of their current film project.
I didn't expect it would be such a long journey, but there were many challenges along the way. I've never seen a film like this set on a cable-laying ship, and I think there are good reasons for it – it's incredibly difficult to gain access, especially the kind of access I was looking for, which entailed being on board for almost a month with the possibility to observe, and also the possibility to return. We filmed twice on the ship and twice on the islands, which allowed us to see some development as well. The first shoot was in 2022, and the second shoot on the islands was two years later. The last shoot on the ship was actually last year. I was supposed to start shooting right after the aforementioned Berlinale Talents workshop, but of course, that wasn't possible any more what with COVID-19. We had to find a completely new option and shoot on a different ship afterwards.