Louise Cailliez et Guillaume Lorin

The Pizzly is a hybrid of polar bear and grizzly, a direct consequence of climate change. It can be seen as an unstable figure, but also as a surge of life—a natural symbol of adaptation in a world in flux.

Les Pizzlys is a graphic novel by Jérémie Moreau that explores, in a fascinating way, the fundamental issues of our time. Feelings of disorientation, the breaking of family bonds, the loss of transmission—these challenges faced by the characters are all facets of one central question: How can we reconnect with the world and with the beings that inhabit it?

Whether through the Pizzly or the Pizzlys, we are deeply moved by the idea that the “ambient chaos” our world has become can be seen as an opportunity to shift our perspective and as an invitation to understand our vulnerability in the face of climate instability. By rediscovering cosmogony, we can redraw the present and find a way to re-anchor ourselves in a living world.

“From this destructive world, hope can be born” is the comforting, positive message we wish to convey in an animated feature film aimed at all generations, and especially at children.

The story will follow a broken sibling group who find refuge in Alaska and encounter members of the Gwich’in community. We are committed to ensuring that this land—rich in histories, evocative imagery, and powerful imaginaries—is never treated in our narrative as a mere exotic or folkloric backdrop. Representation is a delicate and essential question for us, and we cannot imagine telling this story without our two co-authors from Fairbanks, nor without making the very journey our characters take, from France to Alaska!

As a key hub of the Gwich’in community, it is only natural that we set down our bags in Fairbanks to continue our documentary research.

So many things are calling us to this region.
First and foremost, the need to meet our co-authors Princess and Allan on their own land. To develop a story that speaks of interactions with the world, it is essential that we nurture our own interpersonal exchanges.

We will also visit the Archives Department of the University of Alaska Museum to research the historical ties between the French and the Gwich’in community (to this day, some Gwich’in words are derived from French). Since communication lies at the heart of this story, we also hope to take part in gatherings organized by Athabascan language associations.

We also need to SEE, HEAR, and FEEL life in Alaska through its landscapes, its seasons, and its ways of living. We would like to travel all the way to Fort Yukon as a way of understanding our characters by following the same path they take.

These stays would greatly enrich our vision and allow us to collect iconographic references (photographs, videos, sketches, paintings). We are eager to draw inspiration from everything we encounter there, from the most majestic to the most modest landscapes.

If our eyes will be wide open, our ears will be even more so! Listen, listen, listen! LISTEN to stories told by everyone—children, adults, Elders, storytellers, teachers, artists. The Gwich’in cosmogony will hold an important place in the film, so it is essential to listen to and honor the voices of those who preserve its oral and spiritual traditions.