From tradition to triumph

In the documentary, we follow the Greenlandic athletes through sweaty training sessions, concentrated glances and quiet moments of reflection. We experience a world where sport is not just competition, but identity, culture and pride – a journey that culminates at the Arctic Winter Games 2023, where the Greenlandic delegation stands on an international stage and shows what decades of tradition and dedication can create. Amidst the spectacular challenges of the disciplines, it becomes clear that sport is also a means of finding oneself and understanding one’s place in the community.

When sport becomes culture

The documentary provides a rare insight into the Dene Games and Arctic Sports, two traditional sports with deep roots in Arctic culture. We follow the athletes as they train, compete and challenge both body and mind. The Dene Games showcase disciplines such as Snow Snake, Finger Pull, Stick Pull, Pole Push and Hand Games, which were once used for hunting and survival in the harsh Arctic climate, and which still require strength, concentration and cooperation.

Also Arctic Sports opens up for spectacular disciplines such as One- and Two-Foot High Kick, Arm Pull, Kneel Jump, Sledge Jump and Head Pull, where agility and endurance are just as important as precision and timing. These disciplines cannot be compared to anything you normally see in sports. Head Pull alone leaves the viewer with their mouths open and their heads aching when they understand what the exercise really entails.

The documentary lets us experience the sport from the inside – not as an encyclopedia explanation, but through the quiet pride that fills every movement. It is precisely the deep cultural and personal significance of the sport that made Dida G. Heilmann take the initiative for the documentary, which she created together with Peter Jensen.

- When I was at the time the chairman of the board of Inuit & Dene Games Nuuk, as well as a Dene Games athlete, I was invited to a general meeting, arranged by Arctic Sports Greenland. They asked if we had any ideas on how we could promote our sport. And I immediately thought that we should make a documentary, says Dida G. Heilmann, who has not previously worked on documentary films.

The result is an emotional film, where every movement and competition becomes a visual story about sport, deeply tied to culture.

A personal perspective

The film also keeps a close focus on the person behind the sport. Already in the opening scene we meet Steffen Knulst, who also graces the film poster, as he tells of a childhood without love, marked by abuse and changing foster families. Through sport he finds his true home, and the film lets us feel how discipline and athletic movements can turn destinies around, create community and make room for both personal development and triumph. Here, sport becomes more than competitions and medals – it becomes a means of building identity, belonging and courage. And this is precisely what Dida G. Heilmann hopes the audience will take away after watching the documentary: - I hope that the audience will gain an insight into the sport and the community, and that they will feel the culture behind it. Being reminded of how strong we are together, how important it is to stand together in Greenland and the Arctic regions, and to be able to help each other in every way, Dida says with a gravity that bears witness to the heritage that the documentary clearly carries.

The documentary about Arctic Sports and the Dene Games shows tradition, culture and community, where each discipline becomes a window into the person behind the performance. The film ends as it began – with Steffen saying:

- Only the person who fights for something achieves something.

A message that lingers for a long time, and which emphasizes that sport, culture and community here are inseparable.