Walls - Akinni Inuk is a 2025 Greenlandic documentary film directed by Sofie Rørdam and Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg.Pat Mullen, "Walls – Akinni Inuk Review: Empathy for Life". Point of View, 26 April 2025. The film is a portrait of Ruth Mikaelsen Jerimiassen, a woman who has been indefinitely incarcerated in Nuuk for attempted murder, who is given an opportunity for redemption when her case is opened for review.Annika Pham, "Greenlandic Doc ‘Walls – Akinni Inuk’ Filmmakers on a Story About ‘How Human Connection Can Wash Away Prejudice’". Variety, 20 March 2025.
The film was selected as Greenland's submission for the Nordic Council Film Prize,Marta Balaga, "‘When the Light Breaks,’ ‘Dreams’ Nominated for Nordic Council Film Prize – and ‘The Last Paradise on Earth,’ the First-Ever Entry From the Faroe Islands". Variety, 18 August 2025. and for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.Ben Dalton, "Greenland makes third-ever international feature Oscar entry with ‘WALLS – Akinni Inuk’". Screen Daily, 22 September 2025.
Synopsis The documentary follows Ruth Mikaelsen Jerimiassen, a Greenlandic woman held at a correctional institution in Nuuk under an indeterminate sentence following a violent offence. With no fixed release date, Ruth remains uncertain whether she will be considered ready to return to society.
The film originated as a project in which incarcerated women were given cameras to document their everyday lives. After prison authorities discontinued the arrangement, filmmaker Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg continued meeting with Ruth and became personally involved in her story. Their conversations reveal comparable experiences of childhood hardship, grief and emotional isolation, changing their relationship from that of filmmaker and subject into a close friendship.
Over several years, the documentary records Ruth’s attempts to address her past and seek reconsideration of her confinement. At the same time, Nina confronts unresolved experiences from her own life. Their developing connection provides the film with a broader examination of punishment, rehabilitation and the possibility of rebuilding a life after trauma.
Release The film premiered at the CPH:DOX documentary film festival, where it was named the winner of the Nordic Dox award.Vassilis Economou, "Always wins big at CPH:DOX". Cineuropa, 31 March 2025. It had its North American premiere in April at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.
Accolades
Award Date Category Recipient Result CPH:DOX 30 March 2025 Nordic Dox award Walls - Akinni Inuk
See also List of Greenlandic submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film List of submissions to the 98th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
References
External links
Walls - Akinni Inuk on Letterboxd