Reindeer herding, the life of the Sami.
Social & External
The people behind it
Stig Wesslén
Sámi artefacts from the Finnish National Museum are returning home to Sápmi, while the holy drums of the Sámi people are still imprisoned in the basements of museums across Europe. The returning objects symbolise the dignity, identity, history, connection to ancestors and a whole world view that was taken from the Sámi people. Director Suvi West takes the viewer behind the scenes of the museum world to reflect on the spirit of the objects, the inequality of cultures and the colonialist burden of museums.
In the film about "the land of eternal light and eternal darkness" we meet some women who talk about their lives. The women have all grown up in reindeer herding families and as children they lived in kotas, moved with reindeer and lived a life in nature. Their own children, on the other hand, have grown up in "normal" Swedish society. None of them have lived like their parents. The film addresses Sami culture, language, school. How modern technology has affected the lives of the Sami.
Off The Mark is a documentary about a world-first dog sled expedition in Finnmark, Norway, in the middle of the polar night in search of microplastics and indigenous solutions to the climate crisis.
Two parallel stories are gradually unfolding the everyday life of two very different persons - that of 86-year-old Sara and 7-year-old Mihka - both residing in Guovdageaidnu - Kautokeino, in the middle of the Norwegian arctic tundra, through the drastic change of the arctic seasons and the passage from the long winter’s darkness to the never-ending light of the summer season.
Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan travels to the frozen north, deep inside the Arctic Circle, to meet the ancient Sami people and the animals they hold so close - reindeer.
The fate of a culture lies on the shoulders of few determined individuals.
Also known as Reindeer Time and Inheritance, this 9-minute short by Arne Sucksdorff documents the Sámi people’s autumn migration as they guide their reindeer herds back to the forest lands. Blending ethnographic observation with lyrical nature imagery, the film follows the reindeer through mountain landscapes, calving, herding, and branding, underscoring the deep interdependence of humans, animals, and the northern environment.
The documentary Rap and Reindeer follows the life of 18-year-old Sámi rapper Mihkku Laiti, who lives in the northernmost corner of Sámiland. The film is a coming-of-age story, following Mihku on his journey towards a career as a musician and rise to stardom in the midst of varying expectations. He’s charmed the crowd on Talent Suomi and proudly wears the Sámi clothing he has styled himself. He raps and yoiks in harmony, designs his own brand on his computer but also masters the skill of laborious reindeer herding. Above all, he sees his own unique roots and the Sámi language as his greatest strength. The future makes him wonder: to follow his father’s footsteps or to reach for his dreams.
An essay film about how it may feel to grow up as a young Sami in Sweden, with poetry written by Ella-Maria Nutti and graphics by Irma Bergdahl. The partying of a typical teenager together with the labels put on you that wont go away, the questions which are thrown on you as knives in the back. A tribute to our ancestors who fought for our rights and a declaration of love to the young Samis who continues to fight
Sami reindeer herders win a Supreme Court victory against Europe’s largest wind farm - but when the state refuses to act, their fight reveals a deeper crisis of justice and trust.
A documentary about Sami comic artist Mats Jonsson and his relative Stor-Stina. Her remains were long believed to have been lost in a fire but were recently found and returned to her home town of Malå to be buried.
Follows Astrid & Sune as they show techniques and methods of sami handcraft.
Love, music, Sami identity and environmental activism go hand in hand in this inspiring tale of young singer Ella and her fight against the mining company that threatens her Sami heritage.
Documentary about the priest and joiker Johan Märak and the artist Lars Pirak, and their friendship.
A BBC Four Slow Christmas treat follows Norway’s Sami reindeer herds as they migrate across the mountainous region of Finnmark, far north of the Arctic Circle. The journey, a little over 160 miles, takes the herd a week, travelling north from the inland winter feeding grounds to their coastal summer pastures. The film travels with the Sara family and their herd around the clock as they cross the Arctic wilderness to reach the coastal island of Kvaloya Fala in time for the calves to be born. It is a journey fraught with hazardous weather conditions.
Personal accounts from the Alta actions in the years 1979 to 1981. Large police forces were deployed against the demonstrators. The dispute over the Alta river began as an environmental issue, but became a major turning point for the Sámi people's struggle for equal rights in Norway.
Loving someone of the same gender is frowned upon in Sami communities. Sparrooabbán (Me and my little sister) shows what it’s like to be a minority within a minority. Suvi describes how her little sister Kaisa wishes to be accepted as she is. Like her sister, Kaisa is a Sami, but also in a relationship with a woman, and she also works as a deacon. There are obviously more constricting communities in the film than only one.
The AssimiNation is a political pamphlet portraying the indigenous Sámi people fighting for their existence. The film follows the on going cultural genocide of the Sámi which the current Governmental politics allow. This film is a cry for help for the last indigenous people living in the EU.
In a crime-plagued neighborhood near Miami, brutal, bare-knuckled backyard fights give young men a chance to earn money -- and self-respect.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
An astonishing journey revealing the awesome power of the natural world. Over the course of one single day, we track the sun from the highest mountains to the remotest islands to exotic jungles.
A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
A group of British children aged 7 from widely ranging backgrounds are interviewed about a range of subjects. The filmmakers plan to re-interview them at 7 year intervals to track how their lives and attitudes change as they age.
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to spark global curiosity
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
THE SPIRIT MOLECULE weaves an account of Dr. Rick Strassman's groundbreaking DMT research through a multifaceted approach to this intriguing hallucinogen found in the human brain and hundreds of plants, including the sacred Amazonian brew, ayahuasca. Utilizing interviews with a variety of experts to explain their thoughts and experiences with DMT, and ayahuasca, within their respective fields, and discussions with Strassman’s research volunteers, brings to life the awesome effects of this compound, and introduces us to far-reaching theories regarding its role in human consciousness.
This raucous journey into the heart of democracy captures an unusual rite of passage: 1,100 teenage boys from across Texas coming together to build a representative government from the ground up.
A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.
After another 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! and 7 Plus Seven. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
In 1997, Louis Theroux made a documentary about the world of male porn performers in Los Angeles. 15 years later, he returns to find a business struggling with the deluge of free porn on the internet. Louis revisits some of the original programme's contributors as well as meeting the latest crop of porn performers dreaming of porn stardom.
RETURN tells the story of a retired Green Beret who embarks on a healing journey from Montana to Vietnam. There he retraces his steps, shares his wartime experiences with his son, treats his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and seeks out the mountain tribespeople he once lived with and fought alongside as a Special Forces officer.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
