THU—February 6—6:30 PM
$13 ($8 ASF Members)

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The Annual Sámi Film Festival returns to Scandinavia House and virtually nationwide! Now in its 7th year, the festival celebrates the rich storytelling traditions of the Sámi, an Indigenous people of the northernmost parts of Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. This year’s program is curated by acclaimed visual artist Matti Aikio, whose work in sound and video art has captivated audiences across the globe, and one of 12 artists featured in Arctic Highways, a 2023 exhibition exploring contemporary art by Indigenous artists from the Arctic. Presented annually in partnership with the National Nordic Museum in Seattle, this year’s festival will also be co-presented with Anchorage Museum, a significant art, history, ethnography, ecology, and science museum dedicated to studying and exploring the land, peoples, art, and history of Alaska.

Opening night screenings will be followed by a film talk with festival curator Matti Aikio.

SCHEDULE

Biegga bieggá /Wind is Winding (2024)
Dir. Jenni Laiti & Lada Suomenrinne | 42 min.
They swallow our rivers, and the valleys turn into one big tear of grief. Yet, there are beings who gather the grief for a journey, for what they are carrying the wounded trees and all living beings. Their luggage is full of legacy from the world that is ending, and they will find the path to a portal when the first snow of the winter falls. The wind blows and leads the voyagers to a utopia, challenging them with the questions of being.

Skierri – vaivaiskoivujen maa /Skierri – Land of the Dwarf Birches (1982)
Dir. Markku Lehmuskallio | 118 min.
In Sápmi, a reindeer herder follows the traditional cycles of migratory life, which keep him apart from his home and wife for long periods of time. “Two cultures collide, the minority culture and the majority one. We try to show another way of thinking in this world,” said director Markku Lehmuskallio. The director spent a year working with reindeer herders before filming to better understand the Sámi way of life. Skierri was the first Finnish feature film in which the Sámi people speak their language. The music of Erik Satie is combined with the sounds of nature.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The Sámi Film Festival originated as a partnership between the National Nordic Museum and Pacific Sámi Searvi in 2018. Since that time, it has become an onsite event drawing audiences from the East and West Coasts.

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Matti Aikio (b. 1980) is a Sámi visual artist from the Finnish side of Sápmi. He has a background in Sámi reindeer herding culture and holds an MA in contemporary art from Tromsø Academy of Contemporary Art, and has had artwork exhibited in various countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. He works with mixed media, photography, sound, installations, video, sculpture and text, and his main interest as an artist is to try to offer the spectators a possibility to shift perspective on often marginalized issues. Aikio also performs as a DJ.

SUPPORT

The 7th Annual Sámi Film Festival is presented a partnership with The National Nordic Museum in Seattle and the Anchorage Museum. It is made possible by the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.