Sámi Films Take Center Stage at MUNCH
Published: 03.02.2025
LOHKAT GOVAID – READING IMAGES: FILM AND CONVERSATION
MUNCH Museum in Oslo, and the International Sami Film Institute, invite you to an evening of Sami art, film, and storytelling traditions to mark the Sami National Day. Join us on February 4 in Oslo!
When? 04.02.2025, 18:00
Where? Oslo, Munch Museum
Program
18:00 – 18:10: Welcome by ISFI and MUNCH
18:10 – 18:30: Introduction by Harald Gaski
18:30 – 19:20: Film screening
Film 1: Iđitsilba – Elle Márjá Eira – 11 min.
Film 2: The past and future Arctic – Hans Pieski – 6 min.
Film 3: Birds in the Earth – Marja Helander – 11 min.
Film 4: Bonki – Siljá Somby – 19 min.
19:20 – 19:30: Interval
19:30 – 20:15: Panel debate
In collaboration with the International Sami Film Institute (ISFI), MUNCH will commemorate Sami National Day with an evening dedicated to Sami art, film, and storytelling traditions.
The evening takes its starting point from the expression ‘lohkat govaid’, which means ‘reading images’. This phrase was coined by the renowned Sami researcher and philosopher Harald Gaski, to reflect the relationship between Sami aesthetic practices and literary expression. Since ancient times, Sami literature has consisted of oral forms such as song or narration, and aesthetic practices or objects. For the Sami, in other words, reading involves looking at (or reading) images.
We begin the evening with an introductory talk about why (and how), in a Sami context, visual forms are an important part of Sami literature and storytelling tradition. We then move from theory to practice, by viewing a carefully curated selection of Sami short films. Finally we round off the evening by gathering the directors of these films in a panel debate about images as literature and Sami storytelling traditions in filmic form.
ABOUT THE FILMS
Iđitsilba (2015)
Majjen has inherited a very special hat. All the women in her community wear this. Its shape resembles a horn. The hat is of great value for her. The church interprets that the hat resembles the horn of the devil itself. Directed by Elle Márjá Eira.
The Past and the Future of the Arctic (2023)
The film will explore the few positives, and many negative aspects of the warming. The film will be viewed through the eyes of a passionate fisherman, fishing tourism entrepreneur, reindeer herder, and children’s perspective who have only lived in the era of climate change. The film will compare 50–100-year-old film and picture footage with modern footage taken from the same places as the old footage. This will show viewers the speed of the change in arctic nature concretely, and the footage will be commented on by old people who have lived through this period. Directed by Hans Pieski.
Birds in the Earth (2018)
Two sister ballerinas dance through the villages and forests of the Sámi land in this whimsical and disarming commentary on indigenous sovereignty and land ownership. Directed by Marja Helander.
Bonki (2014)
Nils, a resident in a nursing home has for years been declared as hopelessly demented by the staff. He does not respond to any form of communication and seems to be lost in his own world. By coincidence the new nurse Karen discovers that Nils responds to the Sámi language, and she soon realizes that Nils has something urgently important to pass on. Eventually Karen is faced with a choice – is she to follow her heart or her mind? Directed by Siljá Somby.