"From one world to another" : Jérémie Renier films his crossing of the Arctic with Loury Lag, a journey in memory of Gaspard Ulliel

Actor Gaspard Ulliel died, at the age of 37, on January 19, 2022 following a skiing accident. The tragedy is the starting point of the extreme experience recounted by his friend, the Belgian actor Jérémie Renier, in the documentary From one world to another which comes out Wednesday June 10. As he tries to mourn the loss of his “best friend” – “part of [lui]“, part of [sa] youth–, Jérémie Renier confides in the French explorer Loury Lag with whom he is in contact.

The adventurer invites him to take on his next challenge with him: a crossing of the Arctic by kite-ski, on part of the Northwest Passage. A journey of 3,400 km on the frozen ocean, between the United States and Canada. Jérémie Renier must follow him, then join him for part of the journey.

The artist immediately felt close to the explorer whose journey moved him. The two men share a common experience around death and mourning. “Death has penetrated my veins until it reached my heart”confides Renier who narrates this extraordinary journey started with a person he has only known for a few months. And when he realizes that certain material details of the adventure escape him, the actor questions the validity of the link established between his missing friend and his joint enterprise with Loury Lag whose past seems to resurface thanks to this new exploration.

The documentary, which could have been summed up as a “simple” adventure of surpassing oneself, transforms into suspense when it also questions the way in which trust is built between two individuals, confronted with extreme situations or not. The setting of the reflection remains unique all the same. It requires survival reflexes, like never taking off your gloves, which Loury Lag instills in Jérémie Renier at the start of the film, shot with a small crew, without a sound engineer, but with a drone.

The snow-covered spaces obviously extend as far as the eye can see and the long shots where the blue of the sky meets the white of the ground on the horizon, in a sumptuous gradient, are a constant reminder of the immensity of the place. The two men in yellow appear like tiny characters in this virginal setting. Director of photography Fabien Ruyssen, close to Jérémie Renier whose protective gaze he wanted, takes advantage of all the natural shades available in this ecosystem. Result: the spectacle is breathtaking.

The panoramic shots alternate with other, tighter shots, where Jérémie Renier and Loury Lag are often face to face. Either when they meet on the course or when they share a tent. The exchanges are sometimes delicate, but they become the place of an intimacy developing between the two men. Especially when the leitmotif is to avoid becoming a meal for hungry polar bears…

If we understand this need to find Gaspard Ulliel in this snow that the actor loved, we can also question, like Jérémie Renier himself, the merits of such an extreme approach. A question that immediately becomes obsolete: everyone chooses to mourn their dead as they wish and as they can. From one world to another is just another reminder of that. Especially since the immensity of the Arctic seems, paradoxically, to echo both the void left and the vast space occupied by Gaspard Ulliel in the existence of Jérémie Renier. Unvarnished, the one who remains has exposed all his vulnerabilities – emotional, physical and material – for the love of the one who is no more. And that’s where the beauty of this tribute lies.

Genre : Documentary
Réalisation : Jérémie Renier
With : Jérémie Renier, Loury Lag
Pays : France, Belgium
Durée: 1h15
Sortie : June 10, 2026
Distributer : Pan Distribution

Synopsis : an intimate documentary, a human and sensory journey through mourning and friendship. After the accidental death of his best friend, Jérémie begins a path of contemplation thanks to the meeting of a French explorer, Loury, who travels through uninhabited territories in extreme conditions. They will set off together across the Arctic ice floe. Left to their own devices, the two men will test themselves until they become alive again. An initiatory quest, which explores the territories of life, where the hostility of the world leads to death.