A Greenland Story is our award-winning independent feature documentary set along the West coast of Greenland. As seen on RTÉ and Amazon Prime, intimate stories reveals a country and people at a crossroads between tradition and modernity.
Inspired by their unique culture and their connection with the natural world, we felt it was important to tell this story during a time of such drastic change to both their culture and climate. A meditation on Greenland’s current moment, this film explores the impact of the rapid cultural and climate change on remote communities along the West Coast.
To make the film the crew sailed transatlantic from Galway to meet people in remote communities up into the Arctic Circle, living in close quarters for 3 months aboard Jamie Young's yacht The Killary Flyer. After picking up quite a few awards. the film has now been shown at festivals across the globe, has been acquired by multiple broadcasters / streaming platforms, and has also secured a US distribution deal.
This film was awarded exceptional merit in environmental and social issues at docs without borders, best environmental documentary at the Montreal Independent Film Festival and Best Feature Film Cinematography at the Quetzalcoatl Indigenous International Film Festival. Vincent Monahan also picked up awards for Best First Time-Director and Best Editor at the London Independent Film Awards.
"Amongst the gorgeous icy vistas and mouth-watering shots of whales emerging from the sea ..... is a story about people who care for their history and environment.
A Greenland Story takes us straight to the heart of the problem, interviewing the citizens of the country about what life is like at the epicentre of global warming.
Despite an Irish crew travelling via boat – a choice that seems quite respectful towards Greenland by reducing their carbon footprint – they are largely absent from the story (except for a bit of narration), allowing the inhabitants of Greenland to speak for themselves. Instead of making their presence felt, the crew chose to point their cameras at the beautiful scenery and let the land also speak for itself."
- Film Ireland Review
With no roads connecting its coastal communities, our boat and its Irish crew move quietly in the background giving rare access to remote villages up into the Arctic Circle. In near 24-hour daylight, sailing by vast icebergs and sharing midnight encounters with humpback whales, we are invited into homes and communities along the way.
These heartfelt interactions reveal a generous and inviting people battling to hold onto a culture that forms their identity. A hunting society turned capitalist, local hunters no longer feed their communities. As the ice disappears around them, what future beckons? Perhaps one that offers an easier type of living, but these modern conveniences bring their own difficulties.
This is a celebration of Greenland’s culture, a lament for a changing way of life and a yearning for a positive future for a people facing such uncertain times.
WATCH A GREENLAND STORY
BEHIND A GREENLAND STORY
Back in 2018, fueled by captain Jamie Young’s passion for Greenland’s unique history, its inspiring Inuit culture and the drastic change that is occurring there, the wheels for ‘A Greenland Story’ were put in motion. It felt incredibly important to highlight the impact of modernisation and climate change on their way of life and their natural world.
A Greenland Story was our first independent feature documentary, which we brought all the way from ideation right through to market, which included sailing Transatlantic twice to allow us to film in remote villages along Greenland’s west coast. Vincent Monahan, the founder of Duck Upon Rock, was director, producer, cameraman (b-cam & drone) and editor for this film with all post-production kept in-house. We also partnered with the US-based production company Ossicones Productions in what was, and continues to be, a great partnership.
Making this film was very much a case of the journey being as important as the destination. We are eternally grateful for the generosity and openness shown to us by everyone we met in Greenland. Working closely with them after we returned home was crucial to finishing this film and to ensuring the message was true to those who had filmed with us during our months up there. On occasion, due to the language barrier, we needed help translating from Greenlandic to Danish and then Danish to English during post. Archival footage was gifted to us by a wonderful Danish woman whose mother shot the footage back in 1939!
The making of the film is also very much a West of Ireland story with all of the boat crew who made the voyage hailing from Galway, Mayo and Sligo. Much of the music was sourced from talented musicians from all over the West of Ireland also, including music from Ted Kelly, Seamie O’Dowd, Stephen O’Dowd, Graham Sweeney, Patrick Monahan and David Howard. Marieke Lexmond our co-producer and Menno Westendorp our DOP hailing from The Netherlands.