Curious about his Grandfather's past, Igor Devold went to Greenland to trace his history. At the International short film festival in Drama you can see the astonishing outcome.
Norwegian film director Igor Devold has never met his grandfather, but all the legendary stories told about him, has made Devold curios. How was his grandfather?
- Amongst our family members, he is characterized as «a legend», both in a positive and negative way. I just had to find out more about him, explains Devold.
Wanted to occupy Greenland
Devold's grandfather was a Norwegian seaman who in the 1930s travelled to Greenland. The mission was to annex Greenland for Norway. This was during the period when Svalbard, Jan Mayen and Queen Mauds Land all were annexed by Norway.
- But they didn’t succeed as Greenland got under Danish territory. My grandfather never got over this loss, tells Devold.
Devold has traveled to Northeast Greenland to recreate the story. An important part of the history is the fact that Devolds grandfather cooperated with Nazi-Germany during the Second World War.
A film he just had to do
- The film was five years in the making. Because of the subject matter, it was a very hard film for me to make. It is one of those films you just have to do. To get the family past off my chest, explains Devold.
Now you have the opportunity to see the movie at the International short film festival in Drama 22 September.
- I am curious to see how the Greeks will react to this film as it is all about topics of high importance for Greece today, like for example borders and who have right over territory.
Igor Devold is a fiction and documentary film director. He has a Master's degree in directing from the Polish National Film School (PWSFTviT) in Łódź.
The film is a co-production between The Polish Film School and Pang Productions (Norway). Artistic supervisor is Kazimierz Karabasz.
Cinematographer: Grzegorz Korczak.
Additional cinematography: Marius Matzow Guldbrandsen FNF.
Producer: PWSFTviT and Pang Productions by Ingvil Giske and Beata Gzik.
Director: Leiv Igor Devold.