The Sámi Film Festival, featuring storytellers from the Indigenous people of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia, is coming to Ballard in early February.
The National Nordic Museum is organizing the 7th annual Sámi Film Festival at Majestic Bay Theater. The festival is Feb. 7 and 8.
The museum says that this year’s festival “features an array of documentaries, feature films, and shorts that showcase the resilience, creativity, and cultural heritage of the Sámi people.” It’s curated by internationally acclaimed Sámi visual artist Matti Aikio, known for his work in sound and video art.
Here’s the full program:
Friday, February 7th at 7:00 pm
- Biegga, bieggá / Wind Is Winding
Directors: Jenni Laiti and Lada Suomenrinne | Runtime: 9 min | Year: 2024
A poetic journey through a world in transition, exploring grief, renewal, and the quest for a utopia. - Skierri: Land of the Dwarf Birches
Director: Markku Lehmuskallio | Runtime: 2 hrs | Year: 1982
This pioneering Finnish feature follows a Sámi reindeer herder navigating the tension between traditional migratory life and the encroachment of majority culture. Skierri was the first Finnish feature film in which the Sámi people speak their language.
Saturday, February 8th at 10:30 am
- Dajan – I Say
Directors: Alice Márja Jektevik and Kim Saarinen | Runtime: 4 min | Year: 2024. Consisting of two songs, “Gulan” and “Dajan”, from Hildá Länsman & Tuomas Norvios new album, the music video mirrors artist and yoiker Hildá Länsman’s personal journey in finding her way back home to Sápmi and discovering the strength to say no to things she does not want for herself.
- Post-Capitalist Architecture TV, Part 2: On Nomadism and Flow
Directors: Joar Nango & Ken Are Bongo | Runtime: 36 min 49 sec | Year: 2020
A road-trip-style documentary examining Sámi architecture and nomadic traditions. - Maílmmittkus / At the Shadow of the World
Directors: Hans Pieski and Arttu Nieminen | Runtime: 8 min 20 sec | Year: 2024
A surreal journey into the complex relationship between indigenous peoples and the unstoppable force of technological progress. The film depicts various stages of technological development and their impact on indigenous populations. Two emerging film makers in the Arctic region share a desire to push the boundaries of experimental storytelling, bringing visual material and ideas from their journeys in the heart of wilderness and urban pulse to a collaborative pursuit.
- Post-Capitalist Architecture TV, Part 5: Gumpi
Directors: Joar Nango & Ken Are Bongo | Runtime: 36 min 49 sec | Year: 2020Travel snow-covered landscapes with a mobile TV studio on a snowmobile on search for the very first, Gumpi, a home-made little hut mounted on skis.
Saturday, February 8th at 1:00 pm
- Sámi Bojá / Sámi Boy
Director: Elle Sofe Henriksen | Runtime: 8 min | Year: 2015
A poignant narrative about the inner struggles and family responsibilities of a Sámi reindeer herder. - Juhani Lihtonen’s Arctic Report: Towards North, Towards North
Director: Juhani Lihtonen| Runtime: 42 min | Year: 1972 - Conversation between Curator, Matti Aikio and Dr. Troy Storfjell, Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Pacific Lutheran University
45 mins
The Sámi Film Festival started in 2018 as a partnership between the National Nordic Museum and the Pacific Sámi Searvi. In 2021, the festival expanded to include Scandinavia House in New York City as a co-presenter. And new this year, the National Nordic Museum has expanded their partnership to include the Anchorage Museum.
Tickets for the events at the Majestic and for online viewings are available on the National Nordic Museum’s website.
Photo: Still image from Maílmmittkus / At the Shadow of the World
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