The Fight for Greenland offers a unique insight into the heated debate about independency, language, and identity, that rages in modern-day Greenland. What does the future hold for Greenland? Should Greenland become a sovereign state or on the contrary strengthen its ties to Denmark? The film follows four strong-willed and dynamic young Greenlanders that disagree on which direction their country should follow, but all are fighting for a better Greenland.
This year, CPH:DOX opens with a brand new and incredibly relevant film from within the eye of the storm. A clever and complex film that not only contributes to insight but also contributes to a human presence which is necessary to understand the need for freedom and the long historical connection to Denmark. We could not have asked for a more important film to open with.
— Tine Fischer, Director of CPH:DOX
Protagonists
Josef
Paninnguaq
Kaaleeraq
Tillie
20-year old rapper, Josef Tarrak, has already made a name for himself as the most important voice of his generation. At the age of 16, he had his breakthrough with the smash hit, Tupilak, that was the first song to express the widespread frustration about the dominance of the Danish language in Greenland.
Paninnguaq Heilmann is a well-known activist in Greenland. The 30-year old woman is fighting to make Greenland more Greenlandic by reviving parts of the Greenlandic culture otherwise suppressed by the Danification.
Kaaleeraq M. Andersen is one of the most significant young independence activists in Greenland and is only 25 years old, when in March 2018 he runs in the election for the Greenlandic Parliament.
Tillie Martinussen is a 39-year old Danish-speaking Greenlander that forms a new political party which is the only Greenlandic party in favor of increased cooperation within the Unity of the Realm. To most of her fellow citizens this is extremely provocative and Tillie’s party is met by a lot of opposition during the election campaign.
Crew
Kenneth Sorento
Ulrik Gutkin
Jørgen Chemnitz
Benedikte Bredesen
Director and cinematographer Kenneth Sorento
Apart from being the director of the film, Kenneth Sorento is also the cinematographer and the sound engineer. He is very dedicated to communicating at eye level and telling stories in a strong visual language. Kenneth has participated in several assignments in Greenland and in the Arctic, including the Galathea Expeditions and two icebreaker expedition on the North Pole, setting off his passion for Greenland and his understanding of its inhabitants. Cultural encounters have been part of his life since childhood, growing up in Spain with his Danish parents. His interests in other cultures has taken him all over the world, from his first documentary about a bicycle expedition from Norway to China, to the film Pachamama about indigenous people in the Andes. Kenneth has specialized in working as one man-one camera and has taught this working-method for the past ten years.
Producer Ulrik Gutkin
Producer Ulrik Gutkin has studied Film, TV & Media science at the University of Copenhagen, Further, he has participated in continuing professional development courses at the National Film School of Denmark and the Danish School of Media and Journalism. Ulrik has worked at DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) for fifteen years. He is now a partner in Copenhagen Film Company and managing director of CFC Short and Doc. Having worked for a number of years as an editor and director, he began working as a producer. He is a graduated producer at EAVE Producers Workshop from year 2014. Ulrik has produced films for the Danish as well as the international market and one of his recent films, There will be Water, were shown in more than 90 countries. His most recent film, It Takes a Family, has been nominated for the Best Nordic Documentary Award at the Goteborg International Film Festival 2020.
Greenlandic co-producer Jørgen Chemnitz
Producer and cinematographer Jørgen Chemnitz (born 1957 in Nuuk) is originally trained as an advertising photographer but found his way into the Danish film business in the late 80-ties. Having work internationally as a cinematographer and director based in Copenhagen, in 2004 he moved to his hometown Nuuk, where he kept working as a producer and cinematographer. Jørgen Chemnitz has among other been the instigator of the Greenlandic film organization, Film.gl.
Beside the Greenlandic co-producer the film is co-produced by Benedikt Bredesen from Norwegian company f(x) productions, a price awarded company who have been nominated for Prix Europa several times and sold there productions to by other ARTE and several other international broadcasters.
Norwegian co-producer Benedikte Bredesen
Benedikte Bredesen has worked as a producer in f(x) productions AS since 2009. f(x) productions is an independent Norwegian production company established in 1995 to serve the Norwegian film and TV market with innovative documentary films of high quality and journalistic integrity.
Her latest productions are the awardwinning documentary series «The Snow Ball War», and the successful theatre - and TV releases of the documentary films «The Snow Cave Man» and ”Priest of burden”. Her latest release is the film and serial Reindeer Island (2019).
Download the full credits list here.