This November, the 3rd Annual Sámi Film Festival explores Sámi values, visions, and stories, through a series of short films and documentaries from Sápmi, which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. On Saturday, November 7, join us for a panel discussion with Sámi filmmakers and scholars as they delve into Sámi film! Filmmakers Rebecca King, Elle Sofe Sara, and Silja Somby, and Sámi scholar Dr. Troy Storfjell (Professor of Nordic Studies, Pacific Lutheran University) will discuss Sámi values, vision, and stories — and why they’re able to speak to diverse audiences.
The panel will be moderated by Dr. Amanda Doxtater (Assistant Professor, Scandinavian Department, University of Washington), and will take place as a Zoom webinar. Questions can be sent to info@amscan.org in advance of the conversation, or asked via chat during the panel.
This year’s Sámi Film Festival is presented a partnership between The National Nordic Museum in Seattle and Scandinavia House in New York, with support provided by the Consulate General of Finland in New York, The Embassy of Finland, Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York, The Consulate General of Sweden in New York and institutional support provided by the Pacific Sámi Searvi and International Sámi Film Institute.
Films will be presented virtually from November 5 through 8 in two packages: “Short Films” and “Kaisa’s Enchanted Forest.” Each film package is $12, and $8 for ASF Members and members of National Nordic Museum and Pacific Sámi Searvi.
About the Panelists
Rebecca King’s ambition is to create unique and large concept stories that reflect the experiences of her generation. Her debut short film Contenders came after catching the attention of Lisa Joy, Westword. It went on to premiere at Aesthetica Film Festival, where they included her in “ten female filmmakers to watch” for Primetime Network, and she was invited to join BFI Network x BAFTA Crew 2019. King directed the short film A Home Truth under lockdown in London as a part of a miniseries called “Oru Lea Buoret Go Jođi” (Home Sweet Home) initiated by the International Sámi Film institute. The short had its Scandinavian premiere on sápmifilm.com in June 2020 and it will be added to Girls On Film online library later this year. Currently she is co-writing the television show “Open Veins” with director Lian Meng Rose as well as developing her next short film Where Iron Gathers and she is adapting a book into a feature film. Rebecca King is also a part of the BFI Network x BAFTA Crew cohort.
Elle Sofe Sara, based in Guovdageaidnu, is a choreographer and director who works at the interlaces of video art, filmmaking, dance and theatre. In her works she regularly sheds light on the social, political and cultural peculiarities and challenges of the Sámi People.
Siljá Somby is an indigenous Sámi director graduated from INN university (Norway). She has been directing short fiction films, including Back to Sáivu (2001); Bonki (2014) and Áile ja áhkku (2015) as well as educational documentaries. She also manages film workshops and dubbed animation films, is active within the film political field, and has worked with film programming in various festivals. She is currently working on various projects including a film for children, along with short film projects.
Troy Storfjell (Sámi) specializes in Sámi and Indigenous Studies, where his work is largely guided by Critical Indigenous approaches and methodologies. In his scholarship Troy works to create a place for Indigenous intellectual and philosophical traditions within the academy, bringing Indigenous-centered ways of knowing to bear on such topics as settler colonial literature, multicultural diversity and trans-Indigenous film studies. Troy teaches in Norwegian and Nordic Studies, as well as in Native American and Indigenous Studies, Environmental Studies, Global Studies, and Gender, Sexuality and Race Studies. Before coming to PLU in 2005, Troy taught at the University of Colorado, Boulder, at Augustana College (Sioux Falls), at the University of Washington and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also earned his masters and doctoral degrees.
About the Moderator
Amanda Doxtater is Barbro Osher Endowed Chair of Swedish Studies in the UW Department of Scandinavian Studies. Her current book project explores the intersections between popular film melodrama and Scandinavian art-cinema in the work of Danish film director Carl Th. Dreyer. She has published on representations of ethnicity in contemporary Swedish cinema; cinematic representations of childhood and the family in the Nordic welfare state; and issues of class, race and ethnicity in a globalizing Sweden.
Her research interests also include: melodrama theory, performance and translation studies, issues surrounding gender and representation, design-thinking, and public-facing scholarship in the humanities.
Support
The 3rd Annual Sámi Film Festival is presented a partnership with The National Nordic Museum in Seattle.
Support has been provided by the Consulate General of Finland in New York, The Embassy of Finland, Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York, The Consulate General of Sweden in New York, with institutional support provided by the Pacific Sámi Searvi and International Sámi Film Institute.
