Greenland documentary forces Danesi to confront their colonial heritage | Denmark

For two weeks in Denmark the topic of the documentary was “larger than Trump”, says the producer Michael Bévort. The broadcast of The white gold of Greenland (Greenland’s White Gold), a 55 -minute film on Danish exploitation for several decades of a bright criously in the south Greenland And the vast sums of money he generated, made waves in February both in Greenland and in his former colonial sovereign, Denmark. But the reaction between the two could not have been more polarized.

In Greenland, which remains part of the Danish kingdom, with Denmark that still controlled its foreign and defense policies, there were feelings of anger and profound sadness. The country was in the middle of an election observed by the world thanks to the threats of Donald Trump to take control of the Arctic island. According to a survey for the Greenland newspaper SERMITSIAQMore than a third of the voters said that the documentary will influence their vote.

There was also a sense of long -awaited recognition: that the stories that people had listened to from their friends and relatives on what happened in the now abandoned city of Impitut were finally confirmed by a large public institution such as the doctor, the Danish public service transmission company.

Politically, he was seen as seismic in the capital of the country, Nuuk. He had the potential, some believed, to change the dynamics of power between the territory and the Nordic country, which has long been framed as Greenland depends financially Denmark. “A new documentary film shows that Denmark has earned at least 400 billion of Kroner (£ 46 billion) from a single mine,” said the then Minister of Greenland, Múte B Egede.

While initially there were some positive reviews in Denmark, the Danish media quickly launched to attack, after one of the economists who appeared in the documentary denounced his interpretation of the figures. “It was horrible,” said Bévort Observer. “It was the worst storm of shit, almost never.”

The criticisms of the documentary focused on the figure of 400 billion from Danish Kroner, the amount calculated by the team was the gross income of Denmark by the mine over 133 years, appropriate to today’s value.

But Torben M Andersen – professor of economics at the University of Aarhus and President of the Greenland Economic Council, which appears in the documentary – has questioned the figure, soliciting caution on the calculation, which referred to the turnover between 1854 and 1987, not profit. The documentary is careful to underline that the figure – calculated using on -board books of the Danish national archives – refers to the overall turnover because, as they are recommended when it comes to colonial economy, the production costs have been spent in Denmark using Danish workers and equipment.

For 10 days, dr. It was the documentary. Despite the criticisms of several politicians, including the Minister of Culture of the Moderate Danish, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, who denounced his “bad journalistic craftsmanship”, and the economists, the director of the news of dr. Sandy French, refused to surrender, saying: “There were no violations of the guidelines for the press, there are no errors made or reserves that have not been made”.

But in the end they changed their mind. They announced that they would retire and “purified” the documentary and that the editor -in -chief of the news of the Dr, Tholmas Falbe, resigned. The Frenchman stated that the turning point was new information on a graphic graphic of the total sales accumulated of cryolite that had been removed from a previous version of the documentary because it was not accurate.

“It may seem less than the great debate on the documentary, but this new discovery is crucial for me because you must be able to trust that the presentation is accurate,” said the Frenchman. Bévort, who is trying to find a new home for the documentary, said that the rare purblish move was political. “He has nothing to do with the film. They are looking for Dr.”

Rune Lykkeberg, editor -in -chief of the Danish newspaper Informationagree. “Not political in the sense” we must censor this message to appease the government “but corporately political in the sense that” we must do it to protect our brand and control the damage “.”

He added: “Dr. is like the BBC, a public service station whose final manager is the government: the Minister of Culture appoints the head of his advice that appoints the formally independent CEO of Dr.

The departure move was a “terrible decision”, added Lykkeberg. “The documentary was part of the public debate, it was a public fact that people were deliberating and was in the common interest that everyone could access it. It does not help anyone you cannot see the film you are talking about. And the documentary is not dangerous.”

Naaja Nathanielsen, who was a minister in the last government of Greenland and in the current government, who made an oath officially on Monday, said that the move was “an excessive reaction” by dr. “He has more something to do with the Danish self -interpretation of their actions in Greenland more than what this film is,” he said to Observer.

Although he has not seen the numbers, so he cannot comment if they are exactly correct, he believes they are honest. “What I believe is that it is not an unjust presentation of the economy between Greenland and Denmark,” he said. “I have enough confidence in the numbers to say that represent a correct interpretation of the way they were things, even when Denmark started investing more in Greenland.”

But focusing so much on the figures “derail” the conversation from what the real debate should be, he said. “In Greenland we can have both narratives … Yes, there is something in the past with Denmark that has been crooked, that it was not right, that violates the rights. And we can still accept and recognize all the good things that the complaint has also done.

But in Denmark – or at least media Dane – he says, this seems not to be like this. “There is only a narrative that can exist, and this is that Denmark was good in Greenland and this is the end of history.”

Dr. And the Danish minister for culture did not respond to Observeris required of comment.