Controversial documentary forces Danes to confront their colonial heritage

Country divided over claims that Greenland's cryolite mines were plundered by Denmark

- Miranda Bryant

For two weeks in Denmark the subject of the documentary was "bigger than Trump", says producer Michael Bévort.

The broadcast of Grønlands hvide guld (Greenland's white gold), a 55-minute film about the Danish exploitation over several decades of a cryolite mine in southern Greenland and the vast sums of money it generated, made waves in February in both Greenland and its former colonial ruler, Denmark. But the reaction between the two could not have been more polarised.

In Greenland, which remains part of the Danish kingdom, with Denmark still controlling its foreign and defence policies, there were feelings of anger and deep sadness. The country was in the middle of an election being watched by the world thanks to Donald Trump's threats to take control of the Arctic island. According to a poll for Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq, more than a third of voters said the documentary would influence their vote.

There was also a sense of long-awaited recognition that the stories people had heard from their friends and relatives about what happened in the now derelict town of Ivittuut were finally being confirmed by a public institution as big as DR, the public-service Danish Broadcasting Corporation.

Politically, it was seen as seismic in the country's capital, Nuuk. It had the potential, some believed, to change the power dynamic between the territory and the Nordic country, which has long been framed as Greenland being financially dependent on Denmark. "A new documentary film shows Denmark has earned at least 400bn kroner [£46bn] from just one mine," Greenland's then-prime minister, Múte B Egede, said at the time.