Five Sámi Projects Selected for EFM

TO THE EUROPEAN FILM MARKET

The International Sámi Film Institute, in collaboration with the Indigenous Cinema Alliance, is bringing four projects to the European Film Market (EFM) this year, February 13.-19th.

Additionally, The NRK TV series A Sámi Wedding by Åse Kathrin Vuolab has also been selected for the EFM Series Market.

Among the Sámi featured projects in the ICA 2025 Lineup is My Fathers´ Daughter, a feature film by Egil Pedersen, represented by sales agent Pluto Film. The film premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in the fall of 2024.

Also, the Upcoming Feature Fiction Árru will be presented at the EFM. Árru is the first-ever yoik musical by Elle Sofe Sara and is currently seeking a sales agent.

Espen Larsson’s feature film Sápmi is in development and will also be presented at the EFM. This year, Larsson is also a Toolbox Fellow at EFM.

Meanwhile, Ann Aurebekk’s feature film project, Porslin, will be pitched at the market.

Read more about the ICA SÁMI LINEUP below, and check out the events and program here.

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BIRU UNJÁRGA / MY FATHERS’ DAUGHTER

CURRENT | NORWAY, SWEDEN, FINLAND I 2024 I 78 MIN I COMING-OF-AGE I SÁMI, NORWEGIAN, ENGLISH, DANISH
Director: Egil Pedersen Producer: Mathis Ståle Mathisen, Pål Røed, Aleksander Olai Korsnes Available Territories: World excluding Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland Sales Agent: Pluto Film, Benjamin Cölle

Elvira, a confident Sámi teenager, believes her mother conceived her at a Danish fertility clinic and imagines her father as a movie star. Her world changes when her biological father unexpectedly enters her life. Set in Norway’s north, this family film features quirky dialogue and a remarkable female protagonist.

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ÁRRU

UPCOMING | NORWAY | SEPTEMBER 2025 | YOIK MUSICAL | SÁMI
Director: Elle Sofe Sara Producer: Elisa Fernanda Pirir / Stær Sales Agent: Seeking representation

In the first Sámi yoik musical, reindeer herder Maia fights a mining project threatening her ancestral lands. Seeking help from her estranged uncle, a charismatic Sámi leader, she confronts buried traumas. As protest camps grow, Maia must risk her family to save the land—or surrender and silence the past.

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SÁPMI

IN DEVELOPMENT | NORWAY | THRILLER | SÁMI, NORWEGIAN
Producer: Espen Larsson

Sápmi follows the intense conflict between two Sámi brothers: one who embraces Norwegian identity and the other who fights for Sámi heritage. The film powerfully explores themes of colonization, cultural erasure, and the personal and political struggles over identity and reconciliation.

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PORSLIN

IN DEVELOPMENT | SÁPMI, NORWAY, SWEDEN | DRAMA |
Director: Ann Aurebekk

A baby boy is saved from his dying mother’s womb. He grows up fascinated by near-death stories; their descriptions of an all-encompassing light and a greater unity become his romantic dream. At the same time, he struggles to find his way in life. He returns to his Sámi grandmother to learn more about his mother, hoping it will help him. What he finds is more transformative than he could ever expect.

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ABOUT THE INDIGENOUS CINEMA ALLIANCE

Starting as a market stand at the European Film Market (EFM) alongside Berlinale’s NATIVe: A Journey into Indigenous Cinema, the Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA) represents a coalition of international Indigenous partners, including film festivals, commissions, and institutes. Our mission is to promote Indigenous cinema globally, create culturally safe spaces for Indigenous professionals, and develop sales channels and secure co-productions for Indigenous titles.

READ MORE

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ABOUT EUROPEAN FILM MARKET

The European Film Market is one of the top three meeting places of the international film and media industries. Its close links with the Berlinale as a public film festival, and its position at the heart of Berlin’s vivid creative economy, are defining characteristics of the Berlinale’s film market. Yet the EFM is more than just an agile marketplace for trading film and audiovisual content – it has also positioned itself as a platform for innovation and change.

Over a period of eight days, around 10,000 representatives of the international film and media industries – primarily producers, buyers and sales agents, distributors and financiers – come together to network, exchange, inform themselves and do business. As the first major film market of the year, the EFM is in a strong position and serves as a compass, barometer and pacesetter for the new film year: new productions and developments, future-proof business models, contacts and contracts – it all starts here.