Varna Marianne Nielsen is a Indigenous Inuk (Inuit/Greenlandic) filmmaker, music producer and traditional practitioner of drumdancing and drumsinging. She works to preserve, convey and revitalize the endangered heritage. She collaborated with UNESCO to ensure it was enlisted on The Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2021.
As a multi-disciplinary artist, Varna embraces a powerful link between ancient traditions and modernity, both in her films and music, she bridges historical knowledge and practices into contemporary artforms, transcending her stories into a broader audience.
A part from her film "The Forbidden Songs", she casted in True Detective "Night Country", as a doula as well as co-producing an original score, behind the scenes.
She holds a Master in Music from University of Arts, Iceland and a Master of Guidance, from Aarhus University, Denmark.
Varna is based in Nuuk, Greenland.