New People

A poetic storytelling as entrance to research dissemination. Imagination and storytelling as catalyst for human as moving beings, with Inuit as case.

A research team led by Eske Willerslev sequenced the genome of a 4,000-year-old man from the Saqqaq culture of Greenland from his hair. This was the first ancient human genome to be sequenced ever. With a story from Knud Rasmussens expeditions to Greenland, “New People”, as the striking of the theme, the film gives a possible answer for why the man moved and a reflection on human migration, humans force of imagination and what lead us to move. Imaginations creates realities!

The film was created for a scenography that was created for the purpose, and which was set up at the National Museum in Copenhagen and for a screening at the Viborg Animation festival. The scenography was created in such a way that the film could both be video-mapped onto the scenography in exhibition contexts and could function as a regular film screening.

The film was nominated in the animation-program at Odense Film Festival 2020.

Video-mapping screenings 2019

Venues: National Museum of Denmark, Viborg Animation Festival and Nuuk Nordisk Kultur Festival.

First screening of New People took place at The National Museum of Denmark followed by a dialog-session between Tor Nørretranders and Eske Willerslev. 21th of September 2019. Target group: Public.

Second screening took place at the Sci-Vi Conference during Viborg Animation Festival. 27th of September 2019. Taget group: Researchers and visual storytellers.

Third screening took place during Nuuk Nordisk Kultur Festival 8th of October 2019, Nuuk. Dialog-session: Film director Steen Rasmussen, Sia Søndergaard and children of the future. Target group: Public, children and young people.

CREDITS

Researcher: Eske Willerslev, Professor- and director at Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum/University of Copenhagen

Visual Artist: Cosimo Miorelli

Producer: Sia Søndergaard

Directors and manus: Steen Rasmussen and Sia Søndergaard

Sound: Thomas Richard/Audiogangsters

Voice Over: Ian Burns (UK version), Steen Rasmussen (DK version), Klaus Geisler (Greenlandic version)

Song Voice: Ellen Holck

Pre-Production: Storm Søndergaard

Cameraman: Aleksander Hørup

Artdirection for scenography and videomapping: Lasse Andersen/Darkmatters

Host at venues: Tor Nørretranders, Science writer

Supported by 

The Animation Workshop/VIA UC, Viborg Municipality and Ministry of Higher Education and Science