The unique story of the Sami, Scandinavia’s indigenous people, is unknown to most of the world. While their ancient cultural heritage is still firmly intact, they have been actively adopting modern technology into their lifestyle. This dichotomy leaves you intrigued, begging the question, can there be a modern indigenous people? THE HIDDEN PEOPLE OF SCANDINAVIA answers this question.
-Linda Blomqvist, Director
Photo by Roland Pantze

Introduction

Johannes was the school rebel. We were just fifteen and on opposite sides of the classroom door. Something about the confines of the four walls was in opposition to his character. He seemed indifferent about his grades and determined to find new ways of skipping the class, often through provoking the teachers until he finally was thrown out. He used to sit in the hallway, leaning back on top of a table as we came out of the lesson, indifferent to the teachers’ discontent and the boys’ admiration or fear.

Johannes, looking back: For me the classroom was like a chessboard where there was a hierarchy and everyone followed their predetermined steps. I didn’t care about my grades because I knew they wouldn’t have an impact on my future. Life is too short to do things that will not make you happy. I wanted to be free from the environments of institutions, so I intentionally and systematically made certain I was thrown out.

Johannes, Jokkmokk, Feb 2007

Linda: Fifteen years later I am at the Arctic Circle in Lapland, in the north of Sweden, enjoying the Jokkmokk festival, built around the 400-year-old Sami market that takes place there once a year.

The air is filled with crystals reflecting the sun, and each step creates a delightful squeaky sound from the snow. In spite of the extreme cold, there is something in the atmosphere that makes me want to remain outdoors. Perhaps it is the spirit of the Sami, also called The People of the Sun, and their love for nature, that has managed to reach into me.

Surrounded by a soft winter landscape are lines of stalls overflowing with craftsmen selling reindeer skin; enormous white fur hats; reindeer meat dried by the sun; CDs with inspiring joik, a chanting of sacred origin; and lots of duodji, beautiful handcrafts made from reindeer parts, birch and silver decorated with Sami symbols. A Russian couple is discretely led to a booth where a powerful looking Sami sells them a lavish bear fur. Life here is infused with joyous anticipation of the festivities to come. Daylight quickly turns into the dark of a long night. An hour later I am walking around in the “people’s house”. Outside in a snow-covered village it is 20 below. Inside it is warm and festive, all around are dancing Sami in their colorful gakti, Sami traditional clothing based on the primary colors of nature. One of them, a man with curious eyes, breaks away from the crowd and approaches me. It takes me a minute, and then I recognize - Johannes!

The Story

THE HIDDEN PEOPLE OF SCANDINAVIA is a 58-minute documentary that follows three generations of Sami in the arctic north of Scandinavia. Each generation represents a unique time in the progression of the Sami culture and history. It is also the story about the different life journeys Linda and Johannes made since they were 15, exploring the innate force that drives people to make choices that brings them closer to who they truly are.

From Adventuress Gunnhild, hailing from Kautokeino, Norway, who belongs to a diminishing number of reindeer herding families that lived as nomads, vestiges of an era we no longer get to experience. Gunnhild was brought up in a kåta (Sami alternative to Native American tipi) and experienced the last nomadic routes on skis with the reindeer. When Gunnhild’s mother died young she left her birthplace to explore the world. She traveled all continents and came into contact with several indigenous people. Today she lives between Kautokeino and Kilimanjaro in Africa where she has developed a unique relationship with the Maasai people.

To Roland, a Sami artist living in solitude in the untouched wilderness of northern Sweden, who represents a generation that in its time has transitioned from the ancient to the modern world. Through Roland we explore the possibility of living a life away from the system of mainstream society, integrated with nature, which is also the source of inspiration to his art. At the same time Roland is an entrepreneur; with a huge tipi-formed modern art studio he takes full advantage of the latest technology and is in contact with international art collectors.

And finally to Johannes, who returned to his roots in the north where his Sami grandfather taught him the craft and heritage of his forbearers. Gradually Johannes found his path in life as a “modern Sami reindeer herder”. Today he skillfully corrals his reindeer from snowmobiles, motorcycles and helicopters. He says that the new technology has enabled the Sami to continue their ancient trade of reindeer husbandry, allowing them to exist on similar terms as others in a rapidly growing modern world.

The Impact

The Sami culture has undergone a fascinating transition; kåtor have become houses, skis have become snowmobiles, and oral tradition the Internet. Right now is an exceptional time as those who were brought up as self-sustaining nomads following the nomadic routes of the reindeer currently coexist with a new generation of Sami, who found a way to merge the technology of the modern world with ancient traditions and livelihood.

Following three generations of Sami the documentary provides a rare opportunity to grasp the evolution and adaptation of a culture in a most dynamic way – the story of a changing history seen through the eyes of those who still are experiencing it. Through recording the memories of the older generations we will help preserve an irreplaceable cultural heritage, and through the lives of the new generation observe the timelessness of ancestry. The feeling the old reindeer herder experiences every summer when the first herd of reindeer is gathered; a recognizable sensation repeated in the Sami taking in the same view from his motorcycle.

Contrasting worlds

The film will not start in the high mountains of the north of Scandinavia, but to the loud beat of New York City with its heightened energy and restless nature. We get a glimpse into Linda’s hectic life as she travels between Stockholm, London and New York for her work. Linda’s big city life offers a representation of the progressive, western world that most of us can relate to. Locations filled with dynamic life competing and interacting within limited spaces - and always at speed; busy streets with fast cars and public transit, a flow of windows with blurred faces flashing by, people in an effort to get to their next destination as fast as possible. This will abruptly contrast the incredible quietness of the northern wilderness of Johannes’ world; a place with open skies and expansive views. Here nature is star and man has been removed from the centre to fulfill a more humble role. We explore a livelihood directly dependent on and adapted to nature, creating a pace of life that follows its cycles with an entirely different concept of time.

15 years later Johannes and Linda still appear to be on opposite sides, but instead of a classroom it has become inside versus outside -systems and -time schedules. Linda’s life often lived inside buildings, surrounded by people, versus Johannes’ life primarily lived outside, alone, in the heart of nature. It provides an observable contrast that makes the indigenous aspects of Johannes’ lifestyle even more apparent.

THE HIDDEN PEOPLE OF SCANDINAVIA helps us to recognize a fundamental part of life we may have forgotten in our rush to become modern, giving it cross-cultural, worldwide appeal. It provides a window into stark realities and a unique slice of life of the last remaining fraction of the oldest indigenous people in Europe. At the same time traditions have made way for convenience. Can the indigenous way still be intact and a modern indigenous people truly exist? Most importantly, it helps us to recognize “the indigenous” in us all, giving it a high level of relevance in these times.

The Project

The feature documentary will build on the success of short documentary SOURCE OF INSPIRATION that was chosen to represent Sweden in the EuroDocs festival in Los Angeles, where it opened the festival at “The Aero Theatre” of “The American Cinematheque” in Oct. ‘08. Following the screening, director Linda Blomqvist, answered questions from an audience of approximately 300, who expressed great interest in the Sami culture and upcoming feature documentary THE HIDDEN PEOPLE OF SCANDINAVIA.

We are currently in the process of fundraising for the making of THE HIDDEN PEOPLE OF SCANDINAVIA, in which the American-Scandinavian Foundation of LA has pledged to help in facilitating support in terms of providing a not-for-profit status as a fiscal sponsor, enabling tax returns to donators. Our potential sources for funding are film funds, trusts & foundations, private financiers, film councils, distributers and governmental funding, both in the US and Sweden.

The film will be produced in High Definition Television on NTSC and PAL for international widespread public distribution such as PBS and other broadcast networks. We will also target museums and other venues that are interested in sharing Nordic culture and the societies of indigenous people.

Nina Ersman, Consul General, Consulate General of Sweden, Los Angeles. Nov. 18 ’08: Director Linda Blomqvist’s short film SOURCE OF INSPIRATION was a valuable addition to 2008 EuroDocs Festival in Los Angeles. As a supporter of this year’s EuroDocs festival, the Consulate General of Sweden highly appreciates that SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, an example of the high quality of Swedish films, was this year’s opening film.

James Koenig, President of American-Scandinavian Foundation of Los Angeles and Founder/Director of Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. 12 Nov ‘08: The documentary film maker is part historian, part voyeur, part tour guide. The art of documentary film making opens the world to us– inviting us to experience both nature and human nature. We are taken on journeys of the eye and of information, and in the shared stories– contemporary or historic– our horizons are expanded and our perspective widened. Linda Blomqvist invites us to go with her to the Sami people. Her keen eye and her cultural sensitivity to her Sami subjects take us into the tempo and temperament of Europe’s oldest indigenous people at the top of the European continent in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia. It’s an important journey. Already, her short film SOURCE OF INSPIRATION which I saw recently at the EuroDocs Festival here in Los Angeles has left us wanting more. The Sami are a people whose ancient cultural heritage is in tact, even though they have been melding modern technology into their lifestyle. One wonders– can an indigenous people be a modern people. Linda Blomqvist’s full feature length documentary project, THE HIDDEN PEOPLE OF SCANDINAVIA promises to answer the question. The American Scandinavian Foundation of Los Angeles and Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. has pledged our help in facilitating support for the project and looks forward to seeing the completed work and sharing it with Los Angeles audiences.