Twice Colonized – Greenland

Renowned Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter has spent her life leading the fight for the rights of her people. Now, just as she is launching an initiative to establish an indigenous forum at the European Union, she also finds herself facing a difficult, personal journey to mend her own wounds after the unexpected passing of her son. 

The documentary Twice Colonized does what no film co-produced and co-written in Greenland has done before in terms of the subject matter addressed and the international acclaim accrued. Filmmaker Lin Alluna captures the life of Aaju Peter in raw handheld camera footage, and the incredible soundtrack makes the soundscape highly original.  The film depicts the calmness of the day-to-day Arctic life of a loving family woman with impeccable intimacy, balancing it with a portrayal of a strong, visionary and energetic woman fighting for the human rights of the Inuit people. 

The film also shows the struggles in her personal life as she deals with the loss of her son and is haunted by an abusive ex-boyfriend with raw, unfiltered emotions as if the camera is there. In pursuit of her goals, Peter has to confront her past. Like many of her generation, she was sent to school in Denmark. Not knowing the culture and language, she had to adapt and lose her identity as an Inuk. As an adult, Peter had to move to Canada to rediscover her Inuit identity, and because of that, she is a bridge between two Inuit cultures as she fights for a better future for Inuit and other indigenous peoples. 

With its timely and on-the-nose storytelling, Twice Colonized highlights the highly political everyday struggle of a people in a post-colonial world. Themes of identity – personal and national – run through this uniquely Greenlandic story. 

While cinematically transcending the bounds of reality, Lin Alluna’s (she/her) films focus on brave women who want to change the world. Twice Colonized is her debut feature. It premiered at Sundance in 2023 and was the first film to open both CPH:DOX and Hot Docs. Lin teaches filmmaking, is chair of Danish Film Directors and a graduate of the prestigious National Film School of Denmark. She is an alumnus/lab fellow at IDFAcademy, UnionDocs, DFI Outreach, Nordic Talents and Circle Doc Accelerator.

Aaju Peter (she/her) is an ardent defender of the rights of Canada’s northern indigenous people and campaigns on issues related to sustainability and resources. In 2011, she was awarded Canada’s highest honour, the Order of Canada, and since then she has been called upon as an advisor by both the EU and the UN. Twice Colonized is Peter’s first work as a writer, but her natural flair for storytelling and in-depth knowledge of the colonisation of both Greenland and Canada has made it a natural choice.

Emile Hertling Péronard (he/him) is an award-winning and Oscar-nominated Greenlandic film producer operating out of both Nuuk and Copenhagen. A 2023 Cannes Producer on the Move, his films have screened at Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Sundance and more. He is chair of the Arctic Indigenous Film Fund, on the Board of Directors at ARTEF – the Anti-Racism Taskforce for European Film, the Executive Director of Nuuk International Film Festival and was awarded the Greenlandic film prize, Innersuaq, in 2023.

Original title: Twice Colonized 

International title: Twice Colonized 

Director: Lin Alluna 

Screenwriters: Aaju Peter, Lin Alluna 

Producer: Emile Hertling Péronard 

Co-producers: Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Stacey Aglok MacDonald, Bob Moore 

Production companies: Ánorâk Film, Red Marrow Media, EyeSteelFilm 

Distribution company: Reel Pictures Entertainment 

Premiere in home country: 19.09.23 

Length: 91 minutes.