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kAl Filmimi pingaarnertut inuttat marluk Ikuma (Ole Jørgen
Hammeken) aamma Inuk (Gaaba Petersen) Uummannap
eqqaani sikumi.
A children’s home in the movies
The feature film Inuk – a contemporary drama about an inner
and outer journey through Greenland – has won 20 international
film festival awards. Focus is now on an Oscar nomination
By Christian Schultz-Lorentzen
Two documentaries about Uummannaq Children’s
Home’s many years of experience using the dog sledding
culture as an effective, pedagogic tool were not enough. This
was the sentiment of the American film director Mike Magidson
and the French anthropologist Jean-Michel Huctin, who were
behind the TV documentaries. Other, stronger means were required
in order to give the most perfect account.
Thus the idea of making Inuk, a feature film about the sledding
projects at the children’s home, was born. A film that has since
taken the world by storm.
– We did not feel that the documentaries had fully revealed the
whole essence in their account of the children’s home’s unique
pedagogy. Something was missing. We wanted to tell the story
about how you can change your life for the better, despite a difficult
start, by coming into contact with nature and your own
Greenlandic culture, says Jean-Michel Huctin. He has worked
a total of 4 years, split over several periods, at the children’s
home in Uummannaq, so he has a special understanding of the
deep, cultural roots behind the many conflicts.
– To attain the best expression, we combined the authenticity
from the documentaries with the emotions you can put into
a feature film. The script, which we wrote together, was not
pulled out of thin air, but inspired by the many true stories we
knew from the children’s home and from among the hunters of
Uummannaq, tells Jean-Michel Huctin.
After several years of work on the script and a series of fruitless
approaches to production companies for financial support, the
project was floundering. In the end, the film couple succeeded
16
Dk Filmens to hovedpersoner Ikuma (Ole Jørgen
Hammeken, t.h.) og Inuk (Gaaba Petersen) i en scene på
isen ud for Uummannaq.
GB The film’s two main characters, Ikuma (Ole Jørgen
Hammeken, right) and Inuk (Gaaba Petersen) are seen
here in a scene on the ice near Uummannaq.
in bringing together a team of seven film people who, in the
spring of 2008, left for Uummannaq to start filming. A surrealistic
enterprise started, although there were hardly two coins to
rub together.
Hard times
– In late winter, under chaotic conditions the film team shot
scenes with amateur actors, most of them quite young teenagers
from the children’s home in the town of Uummannaq and
the village of Qaarsut, tells Ole Jørgen Hammeken, who plays
the lead male role in the film and continues:
– Particularly the film work on location on the sea ice, with
temperatures of down to minus 30 degrees, was a challenge for
the film team. They spent nights in sled tents, suffering hardships
which none of their colleagues would probably have put
up with, says Hammeken. He works at the Uummannaq Children’s
Home, whose principal, Ann Andreasen, has helped to
make the film happen.
– The film, which was made on an extremely small budget,
would never have become a reality without the great goodwill
of the people of Uummannaq or the ability of the children to
act so easily in front of the cameras. Filming took eight weeks,
during which time we worked together with 16 hunters with
dogsleds and more than 300 dogs. We received invaluable assistance
from the children’s home and the staff there. But most
important of all: the Greenlandic actors managed to be natural,
dramatic and full of life, when it was necessary, tells Jean-
Michel Huctin, who emphasizes special cinematographic mile