“Eskimo Diva” Highlights The Queer Life In….Greenland

Greenlander drag queen/activist Nuka is the featured subject of the documentary, “Eskimo Diva” screening at Northern Lights Film Festival on Saturday, Jan 16 at SIFF Film Center.

Every smart film festival (at least in the liberal den of iniquity known as Seattle) makes sure to have at least one LGBTQ film in its line-up.

The annual NORDIC LIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL is no exception. The Ballard located Nordic Heritage Museum presents its 7th annual film festival that includes cinematic works from all the Nordic countries. Presented in conjunction with SIFF, this year’s festival kicked off on Thursday, January 14, 2016 and runs through Sunday, January 17th at the SIFF Film Center which is located in the northwest corner of Seattle Center.

A number of features and shorts will screen over the course of the four day festival but of particular interest to queer audiences: the 2015 Danish documentary film, Eskimo Diva which explores a part of the world that few people are aware of: the mysterious island of Greenland in the north Atlantic. Now an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, the island has a population of less than 60,000 people…and a tiny but vibrant LGBTQ population. This film follows one young queer Greenlander, Nuka, a drag performer from Nuuk, the capital and largest city in Greenland. (Note: Nuuk has a population of about 17,000…)

Documentarian Lene Stæhr chronicles the life of Nuka and his best friend, as they take their drag/electronica show on the road to remote settlements along the coast of Greenland, on the barely habitable edges of a country that is mostly covered by ice sheets. Per the press release, the pair have a goal…”to be the forerunner of the new, open-minded and more progressive Greenland”

And, from the Eskimo Diva website: (and apparently translated from Danish)

Nuka is a young man with a mission; he has a heartfelt desire to be the forerunner of the new, open-minded and more progressive Greenland. Nuka loves his country and wants to do something for it and create a space for freedom, even though he is likely to be meet by strong opposition, perhaps even hate by some. This is a story about a young man who fronts an exciting revolution. Nuka has a beautiful mind and you can only sympathize with him and his cause once you get to know him.