Greenland/France 2010
Starts February 7
Directed by: Mike Magidson
Writing credits: Jean-Micheal Huctin, Ole Jørgen Hammeken, Mike Magidson
Cast: Gaba Petersen, Knud Therkielsen, Ole Jørgen Hammeken, Rebekka Jorgensen
Length: 90 minutes
Do you think we have problems with global warming? Just think of the Intuits living in Greenland. The film slides us right into the lives of Inuk (Petersen) and his family who are skating on thin ice. The opening scene shows us the complexities of a damaged ecosystem and its effect on the surroundings. Falling into the ice, Inuk’s father loses his life trying to get his sick son to the hospital; a risk he was willing to take despite the bad condition of ice. We then see, years later, Inuk trying to adjust to his new life in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland where the challenges are quite different. Due to his stepfather’s drinking habits and violent nature, Inuk spends much of the time outside in the cold looking for a warm meal and a place to sleep. Social services sees the danger the boy is in and decides to send him to a center in the north where he originally lived. Upon arrival Aviaaja (Jorgensen), the social worker along with his fellow students and local hunters notice that there is something different about Inuk. He contains a distant quietness and calmness that others lack.
Aviaaja decides to organize a hunting expedition with the students and the hunters on the ice. She believes these children need to return to their old ways of life to understand who they are and at the same time the hunters need to take responsibility for the children who have been displaced. The cinematography is absolutely wonderful. It is the first film made about modern Greenland and it is should be seen on the big screen due to the majestic beauty of this country. We also get an anthropological look into the lives of this tribe which is rapidly changing due to global warming. It is hard to imagine that everything in this film will vanish before our eyes in the next years to come. Don’t miss this film! ()