07/04/2026 - We had the unique opportunity to speak with the head of Greenland’s brand-new film institute about his first 90 days and using this moment to champion Greenlandic self-determination

Originally announced in November 2024 (see the news), the Film Institute of Greenland (or Kalaallit Nunaanni Filminstitutti in the Greenlandic language) launched in early 2026 and has just reached the milestone of 90 days in operation. Inunnguaq Petrussen, an accomplished musician and political adviser, now tackles a rapidly growing element of Greenlandic cultural life as the CEO of the brand-new institute. We caught up with him at the recent Stockfish Film & Industry Festival.

Cineuropa: Congratulations on three months of the Film Institute of Greenland. What have been your biggest priorities so far?
Inunnguaq Petrussen: Because I don't have a film background, I've been spending these past three months learning who I should be talking to, where I should find inspiration and how we want to shape our film institute. Progress has been quite swift, but I’m still focusing on the most basic stuff. We don't have a logo yet, for instance. We're very excited about having the new logo at some point so we can have a Facebook page and a website. I’m trying to find an office, too – I do have an office in the Government of Greenland, but it's very difficult to work up there. I can now see that the workload is way too high for me alone, so I’m going to be prioritising hiring one or two people this year as well.

What has informed the direction you want to take the institute?
I've been on a professional networking tour for almost two months. I visited the International Sámi Film Institute in northern Norway, and the model they use for indigenous filmmaking is inspirational. They started 15 years ago and have grown so much since then – and they’re very successful. We’ve also been visiting the Danish Film Institute, which will also be one of our main collaborators.

We have a film law from 2024, but we still need three more legal frameworks. The first is to be able to give out permits for filmmakers from outside Greenland to shoot in Greenland. We also need legal frameworks for funding film projects here. The last one is incentives for filmmakers from outside Greenland because we do have a little bit of funding for tax refunds. The legal frameworks will finally be ready during the summer, so that's when we will be fully operational from a regulatory point of view.

How has Greenland’s presence in the geopolitical spotlight impacted your approach?
Personally, it’s about living with the uncertainty of what's going to happen tomorrow because it’s a really problematic thing for all of us. We have agreed to try to use that attention for something positive. For instance, many countries and festivals are reaching out to us right now because they want to have Greenland in focus.

It’s my personal opinion that we are finally seeing a historical shift in the relationship between Greenland and Denmark, and it’s changing in a positive way. I think we are getting more recognition, and we feel a bit more equal to the Danish people. A Greenlandic film just received a Bodil Award/Bodilpris, the prize given out by Danish film critics, which was huge for our filmmakers, and there was a big celebration.

On a larger scale, it’s about our self-determination. It’s our goal to identify ourselves personally, culturally, traditionally, nationally and within the Kingdom of Denmark. What do we do in the future? Do we still want to be independent? There are a lot of things we still need to do before we can see ourselves on an equal footing with the Danish, because we are Danish citizens. Personally, I think the Greenlandic people are finally waking up to the task of demanding equality. It’s something that we have to do for ourselves. Denmark has been reluctant to discuss its history as a coloniser. We cannot just wait for Denmark to do something.

Economic, political and cultural sovereignty are all connected.
I’ve been speaking to the Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA) and Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office, and they’ve been very helpful in advising me on how to push the political questions. I think narrative sovereignty is a very good term to use in these times. It's a product of our history and our goals in the future, not only in film – it's nation-building. Narrative sovereignty is about telling our stories to create our own future. It’s exciting, but I can feel the weight on my shoulders. It has become a personal voyage for me as well.

What does the funding landscape in Greenland look like right now?
First and foremost, we are happy that our own government has been funding the film industry. The first goal is to speak even more with the Greenlandic government. We have already received almost 6 million Danish kroner (approximately €803,000), which is a good start. I intend to tell politicians that we need a huge boost in the film industry. In Greenland, this needs to happen now. We have to tell the story of who we are, not just of a country that somebody wants to take. Currently, we have so few films coming out of Greenland. There are features made every third or fourth year, and short documentaries are made once or twice a year.

The second goal is to speak with the newly elected Greenlandic members of the Danish Parliament because they have a lot of power to negotiate more money from the Danish budget. If all goes well, we may receive many millions [of Danish kroner] to boost our film economy. Over the last two years, the Greenlandic industry received 10 million Danish kroner (€1.34 million) from Denmark for documentaries.

When speaking with the Canadian and Sámi film industries, our jaws dropped when we found out that they could apply for funding from both the Canadian Inuit government and the Canadian government, or from both the Sámi and the Norwegian government. Filmmakers in Greenland cannot do that. They can only apply for Greenlandic money, even though we are Danish citizens. Therefore, our third goal is to have the same opportunities for funding as Danish filmmakers. That’s what we have to demand. I’ve been expressing this idea to the Danish Film Institute and speaking on various panels in Copenhagen about this. I’ll be speaking with our own Minister of Culture, who will also speak with the new Danish Cultural Minister.

We also have high hopes for the Arctic Indigenous Film Fund (AIFF), which was under the Sámi Film Institute and is now run by the people who work at the Indigenous Screen Office. Other than these four, I will see what else we can find.