France Télévisions feels Impulse of Gedeon doc

France Télévisions has commissioned Paris-based prodco Gedeon Programmes to create a documentary about a man attempting to fly non-stop for five days and nights.

The commission of Solar Impulse II: Around the World comes after new French thematic channel Science & Vie TV’s Solar Impulse Across America this year and Arte’s 2012 doc The Wings of the Sun.

Solar Impulse II chronicles pilot André Borschberg’s attempt to fly from Japan to Hawaii non-stop in a solar airplane as part of an eight-leg tour around the world, which has been billed as an “unprecedented challenge”.

Borschberg had been stranded in Japan for some weeks after flying non-stop for 44 hours from Nanjing in China.

Gedeon president Stéphane Milliere told TBI the flight – and by extension filming – was set to recommence during Sunny Side of the Doc on Wednesday, but according to the Solar Impulse project website the plane remains grounded due to adverse flying conditions.

Gedeon, a proflifc documentary producer for French networks, has been in La Rochelle at Sunny Side of the Doc this week launching the show internationally.

“What we love are stories that both human and incredible, and this is both of those,” said MIlliere.