I traveled to Greenland at the beginning of 2013, staying with the local inhabitants of the towns and the northernmost dwellings I encountered. I journeyed from 67° to the 77th parallel north until Qaanaaq, after one year and a half of preparation including learning the Inuit language, with the aim of recording these changes on film.
Greenland is, undeniably, suffering the effects of climate change and over the last few decades, its society has undergone profound evolution. Thus, as the environment shifts, its people begin to embrace Western lifestyles and modes of consumption in parallel. Supermarkets, churches and cell phones are slowly making their way into Inuit culture, traditional outfits made from animal hides mix with modern fabrics, boats are used in combination with sledges. These radical and rapid changes raise questions about society and identity, and divide public opinion in Greenland. Its people are torn between a desire to catch up with the modern world, and a feeling that they are an ice population which, like the ice itself, is slowly melting away.
“Allanngorpoq” in Greenlandic can be translated as “being transformed”
