Aningaaq

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

―Aningaaq's first lines translated to English.

Aningaaq
Aningaaq as seen in the short film.
Age	Unknown, likely mid-forties
Gender	Male
Occupation	Fisherman
Portrayed by	Orto Ignatiussen

Aningaaq was a character who was heard briefly in Gravity and the main character of Gravity's companion short film of the same name.

He was portrayed by Orto Ignatiussen.

Character biography

A Greenlandic fisherman, Aningaaq lived in the void equivalent to Earth's outer space: The Arctic. Dr. Ryan Stone attempted to communicate with Earth, but only got Aningaaq's ham radio. She attempted to talk with him, but Aningaaq did not understand English so he was unable to help.

The short film used subtitles to reveal what Aningaaq was actually saying. It turned out that he was using his ham radio to ask for advice on what to do with his aging, sick dog because he did not want to kill her. He contacted Dr. Stone instead who asked him to pray for her because nobody else would. She asked him to turn the radio to his dogs because she was desperate to be reminded about Earth. She started barking with the dogs, only for Aningaaq to correct her by howling. She went along with it, but broke down crying. Dr. Stone stopped when she heard him singing a lullaby to his baby and became more distraught as it reminded her about her child. Stone attempted suicide via hypoxia, but decided against it. After disconnecting with Dr. Stone, he decided to shoot his dog.

Trivia

• In the script, Aningaaq's name was Aningang.
• Many audiences first thought Aningaaq was an Asian farmer, not a Greenlandic fisherman.
• Aningaaq has appeared in three forms of media related to Gravity. The film itself, the short film companion piece and his name was used to name the soundtrack where he is heard in the film.