Ciril Jazbec
Laird and Good Company
SILA: Between the Ice and Sky
Leona. In the far North of Greenland, on the remote island of Uummannaq, a group of Inuit youth are forging resilient paths through personal and environmental transformation. SILA: Between the Ice and Sky is a photographic series and short film that follows the lives of young people growing up in the Uummannaq Children’s Home, a unique foster care community located 600 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. April 2024.
Set against a rapidly shifting Arctic landscape, the project explores how these youth navigate the complex tension between preserving ancestral traditions—such as seal hunting and drum dancing—and embracing new futures. Through the lens of coming of age, it reveals the intimate, lived experiences of climate action not as protest, but as adaptation, care, and cultural continuity.
We meet Marius, who continues to hunt seals on thinning sea ice, practicing skills passed down by his elders, and Jane, who carries the spiritual legacy of Inuit mask dancing while preparing to leave for higher education. Their stories embody a quiet but powerful form of climate resilience—anchored in cultural identity, intergenerational knowledge, and the strength of community.
The project includes a 24-minute short film, SILA, which further deepens the narrative through observational cinema. Filmed in close collaboration with Greenlandic and Indigenous filmmakers, the film captures everyday moments of decision, joy, grief, and tradition—amplifying the voices of those who are too often overlooked in global conversations about climate action.
Rather than focusing on the effects of climate change, SILA makes visible what is being done: how young Greenlanders are sustaining themselves and their cultural worlds amid environmental and social uncertainty. This is an Indigenous model of climate action—rooted in belonging, tradition, and the hope of future generations.
