Greenland filmmaker and visual artist Inuk Thyris Whaeg (“sumé-sounds of the Revolution”) is in the pre-production of “Orsoq,” which explores the delicate balance between choosing a physically isolated life and a deep longing for human connection. The director will present the film at the 12th edition of the Gap Finance Market at the Venice Production Bridge, which will take place from August 29th to August 31st.
Set against Greenland’s remote landscape, OrsoQ follows three individuals leading the lonely existence. The film, which spans four seasons, intertwines my life as a retired adventurer who has recovered from heart surgery. Gerda struggles with loneliness but refuses to abandon her work because of love. Then Pâlo stitched his mother over the phone, who was hit by dementia. As their stories unfold, the film quietly asks what lies at the heart of loneliness: a desire to escape others and themselves?
Greenland ice storm of Inuku Siris Whaeg’s “orsoq”
Courtesy of Anorak Film
For Høegh, it’s about running away towards the latter. “It’s when I feel the most alive and most of the time I’m alone in the mountain hunt,” he said. “I feel this is what I can really breathe, but I can’t imagine myself staying away from my family for too long.”
The “Orsoq” seeds grew after the director’s debut feature, the Berlin registration “Sumé.” “It was a great experience, but it ran my social battery,” he recalled. That fatigue led him to investigate self-imposed loneliness and eventually took him to a small oil depot near Nuuk, where only three workers were placed all year round.
Gerda from Inuku Thyris Whaeg’s “orsoq”
Courtesy of Anorak Film
Emile Hartling Penard, the producer of the project and founder of production company Anorak Films, is building up the concept throughout Greenland’s wider history. “This movie is about balance,” he said. “In Greenland, we were taken from nature to cities during colonization. We worked towards Western values. Perhaps we are finally discovering that there is something we have lost.
Visually, “OrsoQ” seeks to capture the rare silence of not only its characters, but the country itself. “Greenland is one of the only places in the world where you can have an absolute quiet experience,” explained Høegh. “I want this to be a film that isn’t too many words, so the audience can feel the same as the characters.
I’m a retired adventurer from Inuk Thyris Whaeg’s “orsoq”
Courtesy of Anorak Film
Still, composer Pälvi Takala adds a fragile counterpoint. It arrives almost unaware, marking the transition of one character from loneliness to another. In a quietly constructed film, a slight shift in sound brings the audience closer to both the landscape and the words that break through it.
When it comes to seasons, they act as emotional registrations rather than background. “Winter means darkness in Greenland,” Hogue said. “It’s a time of reflection when people collect within themselves.” The warm moon provides counter points, and the time itself shapes the experience of rhythm and loneliness in the film.
With “Orsoq,” Høegh returns to the international stage with an intimate, contemplative quest for the meaning of living at the threshold of isolation and community. “It seems that humans have a certain divided personality,” he recalled. “We long for loneliness, but at the same time we need others. This contradiction captivates me.”
Inuk SilisHøegh
Courtesy of Anorak Film
