Raise your hands, movie lovers—how many of you were aware that there had never been a feature film to emerge from Greenland before 2009’s Nuummioq, co-directed by Torben Bech (who also wrote the script) and Otto Rosing?
Who knew? Not me, that’s for sure. But here it is at last, Greenland’s first feature motion picture, relating the emotional story of a 35-year-old carpenter (Lars Rosing) who embarks on a boat trip with his cousin after he is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Though depicting the grimmest of circumstances, the filmmakers say their intent is to inspire viewers to claim the rewards of living fully aware in every moment.
There’s talk the movie is excellent, earning comparisons to Ingmar Bergman and containing moving performances from a nonprofessional cast. I only now learned of it when checking out an episode of the Utah-based program called The Music Scene.
Host Darren Fromal traveled to Sundance in January of this year to interview the filmmakers and talk primarily about the music score (which features two songs by American singer-songwriter Emily Arin), but his coverage in general is of real interest. The program caught my attention first because Darren’s a friend of mine who played Billy Bibbit in a stage production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest I’d directed too many years ago to admit—and he doesn’t look like he’s aged much since!
Again, and maybe it’s just me, but…Greenland’s first feature? Wow. You learn something new every day. And the money quote is as funny as it is relevant: “We don’t live in igloos.”
Enjoy Darren’s interview and hope for the best that Nuummioq spawns a healthy movie industry in Greenland so we’ll pay this and future films originating from the country some much-deserved attention:
Here’s the trailer—judging only from this, I’d absolutely say this looks like one to watch out for as soon as it snags distribution in theaters and/or video: