Arctic Love Parade

Meet the Danes who fell in love with Greenland! In “Arctic Love Parade”, souvenirs from Greenland start a reflection on colonial dynamics. The shortfilm confronts the audience with an important, yet difficult question: Where do we draw the line between love, desire and objectification in colonial relations?

“Arctic Love Parade” opens a conversation about the emotional side of colonisation, 300 years after Denmark colonised Greenland. As we explore the Danish people’s feelings for Greenland, the colonial gaze of curiosity humoristically shifts its direction. Greenland itself remains at a distance, only present in a backdrop of dreamy nostalgia.

  • Louise Hollerup
    Director
  • Louise Hollerup
    Producer
  • Louise Hollerup
    Writer
  • Louise Hollerup
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 10, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    2,500 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Sweden
  • Country of Filming:
    Denmark
  • Language:
    Danish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - HDK-Valand (Valand Academy)
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Nuuk International Film Festival
    Nuuk
    Greenland
    September 16, 2021
    Official Selection - Nordic program
  • Cannes Indie Shorts Awards
    Cannes
    France
    September 5, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Socchi Film Festival
    Socchi
    Russian Federation
    February 18, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Doc Lounge Göteborg
    Gothenburg
    Sweden
    October 12, 2021
    Doc Lounge Locals
Director Biography - Louise Hollerup

Louise Hollerup’s work reflects on the emotional aspect of colonial dynamics. Earlier experiments include Kikkut Qallunaajuppat? Who are the Danes? (2016) and The Hairy Stories Trilogy (2018), three short films about body hair. She holds an M.Sc. with specialisation in Visual Anthropology from Eye & Mind Laboratory, Aarhus University.

www.louisehollerup.com

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Director Louise Hollerup is interested in the emotional side of Danish colonial history. She grew up with her grandparents’ stories from the years they spent as schoolteachers in Nuuk. Whilst listening, she started to identify a kind of narrative DNA that seemed to also apply to other Danes’ stories about Greenland. On a deeper level, these stories appeared to talk more about the storyteller than anything else.

In Arctic Love Parade Hollerup collects ordinary Danish people’s stories about Greenland, trying to learn more about the narrative DNA of Danish colonialism. By presenting the viewer with personal stories of ordinary people, she puts forward lived experience and personal investment into matters that are often only spoken about in macroeconomic terms.

With this film, Hollerup invites all Westernes to reflect critically upon their complicity in colonial structures. She hopes to forward a difficult conversation about the past, present and future of colonial relations. What happens if we think of our fascination and attraction to the Other in the light of a broader historical perspective? Is it possible to acknowledge our emotional investment in colonial structures, whilst keeping in mind the harsh consequences for those on the other side of the equation?