‘Finally, we’re Beginning to Tell Our Own Stories’: Filmmaking in Greenland

• Main Authors: Thorsen, Isak, Péronard, Emile Hertling
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Edinburgh University Press 2021
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; greenlander*; greenlandic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474461122.003.0022

One of the earliest films shot in Denmark purports to show Greenland: Peter Elfelt’s Kørsel med grønlandske Hunde ( Driving with Greenlandic Dogs , 1897). The first Danish sound film and the first Danish colour feature also took Greenland’s breathtaking geography as their subjects. This chapter outlines the historical and colonial relations between Denmark and Greenland, and provides an overview of the history of Greenland on screen, with reference to the growing field of Critical Arctic Studies. The chapter concludes with an extended interview with producer Emile Hertling Péronard, one of the founders of the Greenlandic film industry association, FILM.GL., and producer of Sumé (dir. Inuk Silis Høegh, 2014), the first film made by Greenlanders about the history of Greenland. As a co-owner, with Høegh, of Ánorâk Film, Péronard provides a snapshot of the state of play in this emerging film industry and the possibilities afforded by international collaborations for indigenous film cultures.