The Cinematheque

“A beautiful, haunting film, anchored by a startlingly accomplished lead performance.”

Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post

In 1930s Sweden, Elle-Marja (Lene Cecilia Sparrok), a 14-year-old Sámi girl, leaves reindeer breeding behind for boarding school and all the hardships that entails. Made to endure hostile racism, she yearns to break away from her lineage and start a new life. This award-winning film, the debut feature of writer-director Amanda Kernell (herself of mixed Sámi and Swedish ancestry), explores a Scandinavian equivalent of the shameful residential school system all too familiar to Canadians. Sámi Blood provides a visceral look into Swedish colonial history, its devastating effect on Indigenous communities, and the struggles of Indigenous youth coming of age in the Nordic wilderness.