The 6th Annual Sámi Film Festival returns to Scandinavia House! Presented as a partnership between the National Nordic Museum in Seattle and Scandinavia House in New York, the Festival will take place February 8-11, with in-person screenings at both locations on February 9 & 10, and virtual screenings throughout the festival nationwide. The program includes a variety of contemporary and historical Sámi features, documentaries and short films. The Sámi Film Festival will feature the selections of guest curator Liselotte Wajstedt. Wajstedt, a Sámi filmmaker from Sweden, is the director of The Silence in Sápmi (dir. Liselotte Wajstedt, Sweden, 2022) and Sire and the Last Summer (dir. Liselotte Wajstedt, Sweden, 2022), both of which screened at last year’s Sámi Film Festival.
SCHEDULE
JE’VIDA — OPENING NIGHT SCREENING AT SCANDINAVIA HOUSE
FRI—February 9—7 PM; $13 ($8 ASF Members)
Director Katja Gauriloff’s critically acclaimed Je’Vida, the first feature film to be shot in the Skolt Sámi language, follows a Sámi woman who returns to her childhood home in Lapland with her niece following her sister’s death, and must confront memories of forced assimilation during her childhood as well as the rural way of life she has long suppressed. Je’Vida has been hailed as “a strong and assured filmmaking debut” (The Spool) and “an ode to the importance of home, family and a sense of belonging” (Eye for Film).
SHORT SCREENINGS — TWO SESSIONS AT SCANDINAVIA HOUSE
SAT—February 10—1 PM; $20 ($15 ASF Members)
Saturday Short Screenings include eight films screening in two sessions at 1 PM and 3 PM, with a 20-minute intermission between. Films include narrative and documentary subjects spanning topics from traditional ways of life and cultural practices, historical traumas and conflicts in the present day, to alternative universes. Read the full lineup here.
VIRTUAL SCREENINGS — NATIONWIDE
THU—February 8 THROUGH SUN—February 11; $20 ($15 ASF Members)
Virtual screenings include all short films in the in-person lineup except for Whispers of Reindeer Milk.
*Download Virtual Screening FAQ*
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
Award-winning artist and director Liselotte Wajstedt is Stockholm-based Sámi multimedia artist from Kiruna, Sweden. A prolific filmmaker, Wajstedt has made over two dozen shorts and feature films spanning genres and incorporating diverse techniques including animation, claymation, stop-motion, and superimposition. In addition to her directorial practice, she possesses a background in painting and fine arts.
SUPPORT
The 6th Annual Sámi Film Festival is presented a partnership with The National Nordic Museum in Seattle.
Photo by Staffan Widstrand