Dear participants,  

"You still can't see it? But now you can feel that something is there. You can't see it in the air, but your very existence is tied to it. In this way all things are bound together, intertwined. No man can ever tear himself apart from the whole. But it can happen that he loses sight of the whole.”

This quote is from a dialogue between the two characters Raste (played by Nils Utsi) and Aigin (played by Mikkel Gaup) from the film Ofelaš/The Pathfinder by Director Nils Gaup, from 1987.

As we know, it was the first full-length film in Sami, and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988. Among with its title, the film can be seen upon as a pathfinder for many Sami films to come, and the beginning of a new era of Sami films.

A lot has happened since Ofelaš 35 years ago. We have more sámi films than ever before, we have many emerging sámi film makers and sámi stories are gaining recognition internationally.

An important factor in the positive trend is the establishment of the Sami film institute, ISFI, which has been recognized as an international Sami film institute. Since its establishment, the institute has worked purposefully to support Sami filmmakers in the development and production of film and TV drama.

As a result, the number of Sami films has increased dramatically, and the technological and artistic development within Sami film has been correspondingly impressive. This helps to convey Sami culture on a large scale, in addition Sámi film is important for Sámi languages and for us as a people, because we need to see stories that reflect who we are and characters who look like us.

Sápmi has proved that we have stories that are interesting, not only for us, but internationally. Next week two Sámi films are premiering at Toronto International Film Festival: Eallogierdu by Sara Margrethe Oskal and Máhccan by Suvi West and Anssi Kömi.

It`s been less than three months since The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Norway released the report Truth and reconciliation, and The Sámi Parliament has invited the Sámi community to participate in a consultation on the report. Hearing deadline is 30th of September. We hope that The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's material shows that Sami films and series are of great importance for strengthening Sami identity.

The report also launches several proposals for reconciliation measures, especially when it comes to art and culture, including a separate chapter on film, where it says that film is the youngest form of Sámi cultural expression, although other than Sámi have produced films on themes in which Sámi either play main or supporting roles. The Norwegianization policy and challenges that the Sami population must face and master in contact with the majority society have been thematized in a number of films and TV series since the 1970s.

When Raste said that all things are bound together, he pointed out a Sami way of thinking which is very close to cycles of nature. But both nature and Sami culture is very vulnerable, and we must make continuously effort to prevent it from falling apart and lose sight of the whole, as Raste said. And one of the great tools we’ve got is art, and Sami filmmakers are doing an important job concerning both reconciliation and new futures.

Our hearts are filled with joy and reverence as we come together to embrace the diversity of Indigenous voices and narratives. This conference is a testament to the profound connection between cinema and future of our cultures, languages, and stories. Today, we embark on a journey to honour the resilience of Indigenous communities and to showcase the transformative potential of film in championing social change.

I look forward to a very interesting conference with many current topics and hopefully good debates and discussions.

With these words I hereby declare the third Indigenous Film Conference open.

Thank You and enjoy!