Where Mountains Float (1955)

• 72%
• 1955
• Documentary
• Bjarne Henning-Jensen

Mikisoq's (Hannibal Mathesen's) family is dependent on seal hunting, but climate change with rising sea temperatures has already made life uncertain because the catch is failing. Mikisoq's mother dies of tuberculosis when spring comes, and his sister, Maliara (Frederikke Fly), has to take over the duties in the peat hut. Mikisoq also coughs and is transported by medical boat to a village in the south, where he is receiving treatment. The film depicts the boy's astonishment at all the new things in town: truck, ship, house building, telephone, bed, shop. Meanwhile, the father (Hans Henningsen) tries to catch seals between the icebergs from his kayak. It is dangerous because icebergs can calve without warning and send violent waves far away. When Mikisoq returns healthy, the father applies for a house in Jakobshavn. It is granted by the city council and the family moves. But the old grandfather stays where he is, and the film ends with the grandfather's words: "Young dogs can learn new things, the old sled dogs follow the old tracks".