In the project, we have become familiar with the content and teaching methods of film and media education in Sweden and in Finland. We have also got information, how working life and future’s changing needs have been taken into account in the media education. We will write a report of the best practices and it will be available to read for everyone. We want to develop film and media education in the North and in the Sámi region.

The traineeship programme has been piloted in Sámi film productions and Northern productions in 2024 and 2025. Based on the feedback and experiences from the pilot, we will provide recommendations on good practices and instructions for implementing film traineeships in cooperation with educational organizations in the Sámi region and in the North. The report will be available to read for everyone.

We will organize a webinar about the project's activities and results in May 2025. Registration is open to all interested parties, especially people working in the film and media industry, as well as students in the field, educational organizations and representatives of working life. Come and hear about best practices in film and media education, the experiences of the traineeship programme pilot and future opportunities.

Photo: Elisabeth Gustavsson

The  film students and teacher of Kalix folkhögskola visited Inari in January. During the first days of the study trip, we got to know Indigenous films at the Skábmagovat Film Festival and visited the Sámi Museum Siida to see the Enâmeh láá mii párnááh exhibition. The study trip continued with a two-day drone workshop in the stunning landscapes of Vastusjärvi in Kaamanen, Inari. During the workshop, we were able to film with a DJI Inspire 3 drone under the leadership of Kevin Francett from Kajastus Creative Oy. Students gained practical experience of what it's like to work in a drone team, where everyone has their own important role. The students of Sámi Education Institute’s media education also participated in the workshop.

Read more about the drone workshop from Sogsakk -sanomat: https://issuu.com/saamelaisalueenkoulutuskeskus/docs/sogsakk_sanomat_2025

Kalix folkhögskola’s students Uzay Saribas, Ellinor Skoglund ja Sara Månsson are learning how to use a drone. Photo: Juliette Sundelöf

In collaboration with the Kaamosmaisemia working group, the Sámi Museum Siida and the Skábmagovat Indigenous Peoples Film Festival, we organized an inspiration workshop for 11 young people from Vuotso and Ivalo schools. The workshop was guided bilingually, in Northern Sámi and Finnish. The guides were Janita Rantanen and Sunná Nousuniemi from the Kaamosmaisemia working group.

The workshop introduced the Kaamosmaisemia – Skábmaduovdagat exhibition in Siida and then participants looked for interesting details in the exhibition, each person's own sources of inspiration. With the help of the guides, each person's inspiration was guided towards an idea and they thought about how the idea could be developed and what a good idea could do.

Participants had time to delve into their own ideas during the workshop. Photo: Janita Rantanen

More information about the Kaamosmaisemia -working group: https://siida.fi/kaamosmaisemia-skabmaduovdagat/

More information about the Indigenous People's Film Festival Skábmagovat: https://skabmagovat.fi/

Media education students and teachers got to know Kalix Folkhögskola and its film education in March. In the two-day short film workshop, we worked together with the students and teachers of the Kalix Folkhögskola film education. Two short films were created, in which director Jonas Lawes was the director and workshop leader. The study trip also included a day visit to Luleå, where Sweden's second largest regional film production center, Filmpool Nord, and the film production company Iris Film were visited.

The study trip offered the students a new kind of environment to develop their skills and gain valuable practical information about the film industry in the neighboring country. Cross-border cooperation offers students many opportunities to learn, network and develop their skills. Working in an international environment also teaches communication skills in multicultural and multi-lingual situations, which is valuable in future working life.

Read more about the study trip: https://sogsakk.wordpress.com/2024/06/06/medialinjalaiset-ylittivat-rajan-yhteistyohankkeen-askeleet-suuntautuivat-ruotsiin/

The first day of the short film workshop in Kalix. In the photo are Sture Berggren, Tanja Ikonen, Kalix Folkhögskola’s teacher Anders Durvall, Mikko Vierimaa and Olivia Rönnqvist.

The project, in cooperation with the Kaamosmaisemia working group, implemented a short film workshop in Inari, where the participants had the opportunity to get to know and learn, especially about shooting outdoors, during the coldest and darkest time of the year. The working group consists of Janita Rantanen, Sunna Nousuniemi - Radio-Juhani Sunná Máret, Sakari Maliniemi, Tomi Lampinen and Nicholas Francett. The participants were able to learn more about photography, lighting and staging.

The work was done with joy even though it was 30 degrees below freezing in Inari during the workshop.

Two of five traineeships are being carried out in Nordic productions. The miniseries Jag for ner till bror, which will be filmed in Norrbotten, Sweden in February-March 2025, will have five trainees who are Kalix folkhgöskola’s film och serieproduktion students. The series is a co-production of Filmlance, SVT and Filmpool Nord. A student from Sámi Education Institute will be in the 2nd season of YLE's production Unelma Lapista. The traineeship will take place during March-May 2025.

Traineeships in film productions give trainees the opportunity to gain practical experience and network in the film industry at an early stage of their career. The traineeships will include students from both the coordinator's and partner's media and film education programs, as well as young people interested in the film industry in the Sámi region.

More information about Nordic productions:

https://filmpoolnord.se/nyheter/de-spelar-huvudrollerna-i-kommande-svt-serien-jag-for-ner-till-bror/

https://www.filmlance.se/en/produktion/my-brother/

https://www.levinyt.fi/artikkeli/viela-tama-viikko-aikaa-hakea-mukaan-uudelle-unelma-lapista-kaudelle-ykkoskauden-suosio-yllatti-t

The traineeship program started in collaboration with ISFI in March 2024 in the Sámi youth drama series “Oro jaska”, filmed in Kárášjohka and produced by Alfredfilm. The second traineeship was carried out in Áltá and Skáidi during the filming of the Árru yoik musical produced by Elle Sofe Company in August-September 2024. The third traineeship in Sámi film productions started in January 2025, when Amanda Kernell’s new film Brace Your Heart (Förbannelsen – en kärlekshistoria) will be filmed in Kiruna in February-March. The film’s producers include Nordisk Film Production and Forest People. The trainee in the production is a media student from the Sámi Education Institute, Inari.

More information about the first open call and Oroa jaska production:

https://isfi.no/article/open-call-trainee-for-the-drama-series-oro-jaska/

https://isfi.no/article/oro-jaska-premieres-on-nrk-yle-svt/

More information about the second open call and Árru production:

https://isfi.no/article/open-call-trainee-for-the-feature-film-arru/

https://isfi.no/article/five-sami-projects-selected-for-efm/

More information about Förbannelsen-production:

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/sapmi/nu-startar-inspelningen-av-kernells-samiska-karlekshistoria

https://variety.com/2025/film/global/trustnordisk-amanda-kernell-oscars-nordisk-film-sami-blood-charter-1236302384/

Film and media teachers from Inari (Finland) Kalix (Sweden) and Karasjok (Norway) met in Inari during the Skábmagovat Film Festival. In addition to watching Sámi films, we got to know the Sámi Education Institute (SAKK) and its media education and visited Yle Sápmi and the Sámi Museum Siida. We also got to discuss the needs of media education in the North in the future!

Berit Marie Lise Eira, Erkki Feodoroff, Anders Durvall, Tiina Jäppinen, and Susanne Persson at the meeting of media teachers in Inari during the Skábmagovat Film Festival.

Sogsakk new’s article p.14: https://issuu.com/saamelaisalueenkoulutuskeskus/docs/sogsakk_sanomat_11.3.2024_web

The Kick Off and the first live meeting between the project partners was organized in Kautokeino on 6-7 November 2023 at the International Sámi Film Institute (ISFI) in the snowy landscape of Buletjávr. For two days, we planned the project, its goals and activities, and got to know each other's a little more deeply. We also visited the Sámi University of Applied Sciences (Sámi Allaskuvla) and the film production company called Forest People.

Yle Sápmi's article about the project: https://yle.fi/a/74-20060844

The project partners met in Guovdageaidnu, in the wonderful scenery of Buletjávri. Back row: Suvi King, Helena Andersson, Jukka Vuorela-Morottaja, Maren Nystad, Anders Durvall. Front row: Anne Lajla Utsi, Tiina Jäppinen, Erkki Feodoroff.