
One of the main issues facing Indigenous communities is the lack of opportunities for young people to study or work in their home regions. The key to building a sustainable professional foundation for the film industry lies in education. Educational solutions in the coming years, increased funding and cooperation are key in growing the Sámi film industry in accordance with the values and ethics of the Sámi community.
Webinar on Sámi film industry and media education in the Sámi region
Wednesday 14 May
10:00-11:30 (GMT +3)
Please join the webinar 5 minutes before the event starts.
JOIN WEBINAR
The webinar will focus on sharing the results and experiences of the Erasmus+ project. The key topic will be the best practices in film and media education in the Sámi region and the experiences of the traineeship programme pilot in Sámi film productions.
The event is organized and facilitated by Sámi Education Institute.
Welcome – see you online!
Webinar agenda
Welcome and introduction
Tiina Jäppinen, project manager, Sámi Education Institute
Creating cooperation - best practices in film and media education in the Sámi region
Erkki Feodoroff, lecturer & Jukka Vuorela-Morottaja, teacher, Sámi Education Institute
Anders Durvall, teacher, Kalix folkhögskola
Tanja Ikonen, student, Sámi Education Institute
Sara Månsson, student, Kalix folkhögskola
The experiences of the traineeship programme pilot in Sámi film productions
Behind the Scenes of ORO JASKA and HEAJASTALLAN -video
Per-Josef Idivuoma, producer, Forest People AS
Katariina Guttorm, student, Sámi Education Institute
Opportunities and needs in Arctic Indigenous filmmaking and education across borders
Liisa Holmberg, Arctic Indigenous Film Fund & International Sámi Film Institute
Time for discussion and questions
Project objectives:
The objective of the project is to develop film education in the Sámi region in cooperation with Sámi Education Institute, Kalix Folkhögskola and International Sámi Film Institute. We want to ensure that film education better meets the needs of the rapidly changing and developing film industry, and especially the Sámi film industry. The objective is to adapting film education and training to labour market needs and increasing the flexibility of opportunities for Sámi youth.
Desired results:
All partners work long-term in the film industry. The project will develop film education to become more cross-borderless and meet the needs of the rapidly developing film industry. This will also increase the attractiveness of film education and opportunities in the film industry for young people will increase.
Target groups:
-Students of SAKK’s media education
-Students of Kalix Folkhögskola’s film and series production programme
-Young people from all over Sápmi
-Personnel at ISFI
-Personnel from Sámi Education Institute
-Personnel from Kalix Folkhögskola
-Indigenous partners in the film industry
Erasmus+ KA220 project:
The primary goal of Cooperation Partnerships is to allow organisations to increase the quality and relevance of their activities, to develop and reinforce their networks of partners, to increase their capacity to operate jointly at transnational level, boosting internationalisation of their activities, and through exchanging or developing new practices and methods as well as sharing and confronting ideas.
This project is a continuation of the previous Erasmus+ project "Capacity building in the indigenous Sámi film industry and media education in a context on new digital media technologies. The project was a small-scale Erasmus+ partnership project coordinated by the Sámi Education Institute (SAKK) partnered with the International Sámi Film Institute (ISFI).
Activities implemented in the project
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.
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
Video from the drone workshop made by Kalix folkhögskola’s student Juliette Sundelöf.
The short film The Box was made as part of the Erasmus+ project in a two-day workshop in Kalix.
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/
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
We followed the trainees in Kárášjohka for a day and got a glimpse of what it's like to work as a trainee in the film industry.
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.
Project Title: Creating cross-border collaboration in film education in the Sámi region and piloting an innovative traineeship programme model for Sámi film productions
Field: Vocational Education and Training
Project Duration: 1.9.2023-31.8.2025, 24 months
Budget: 250 000 €
Programme: Erasmus+
Action Type: KA220-VET - Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training
Project Coordinator: Sámi Education Institute (SAKK)
Partners: International Sámi Film Institute (ISFI), Kalix Folkhögskola
Contact Information:
Tiina Jäppinen, project manager
Tel. 040 5559650
Email. tiina.jappinen@sogsakk.fi