Ida-Maria Helander is the former President and current Vice President of the Finnish Sámi Youth. The film follows her journey into United Nation’s Indigenous Issues event held in New York. Photo by Anssi Kömi
Film: Eatnameamet – Our Silent Struggle by Suvi West
Thursday, 29 June 2023, 7 pm
Kunsthaus Hamburg
Free admission.
74 min., with English subtitles
” Eatnameamet – Our Silent struggle is a collective cry for help of the Sámi people. This film is born from my personal experience living as a Sámi here in Finland. Time after time I’ve come across to misinformation, prejudices and oppressive structures towards us. My people and culture are fighting a silent war against increasing colonialism. I felt that I also need to do something on behalf of our future. So Eatnameamet came to be. Story about colonialism isn’t my personal story or a singular experience of any individual. Expropriation of the land, forced Finnishzation, destruction of our livelihood and curtailment of our rights had been a collective pain for my people. This story couldn’t have been told through a single point of view. Listening to people I realised that we are at the core of un-dealt traumas. For me, Eatnameamet is a collective cry for help. This film was born from the love for my Sámi people and the Sámi land. We Sámi’s have the right to get our voice to be heard, but it is also a right for everyone else to learn about the Sámi people and our current situation. Knowledge creates understanding and understanding is essential for peaceful coexistence of two different nations in the same state. Ignorance isn’t anyone’s fault, the problem is in the oppressive structures. I invite the audience to this journey into the realm of the Sámi’s where one must take a silent stand and fight for the preservation of the culture for the future generations.” – Suvi West
Suvi West (b.1982) has worked as a freelance director, script writer and editor. Among other she has directed five short documentaries that have travelled internationally and directed her first feature doc Me and My Little Sister in 2016. She is also a creator for the 8-part tv series Märät Säpikkäät– which introduced young Sámi people in humorous way and was nominated as the best tv-series of 2012.
Director and writer: Suvi West | Producer: Janne Niskala | Cinematographer: Anssi Kömi | Sound Designer: Pekka Aikio | Dramaturgist: Anja Ahola | Editor: Markus Leppälä | Music composer: Anthoni Hætta
The project is funded by: 