More about Herdswoman
”For thousands of years our people has lived and worked in Sápmi. Reindeer herding is an important part of our life, of our soul, a way of living and of surviving.”
We encounter three women and their lives with the reindeer herds. They belong to different generations and each of them fight for their livelihood and for the right to their culture. Aina, Elisabeth and Lisa have both warmth and happiness but they are also plagued by apprehension and frustration.
Aina is 74 and has spent all her life with reindeer herding. She believes in the future. She hopes that children and grandchildren will be given the opportunity of following in her footsteps. When the Sami village is taken to court she must witness about her ancestors' livelihood, and her own. The case puts a great strain and burden on her. If the village loses, there may be no future for the Sami.
Elisabeth has not grown up with reindeer herding, but it has been her life since she met her husband, herdsman Per-Anders. Today it is as natural for her to round up the herd and brand the calves as it is for Per-Anders to stay at home and look after the children, but being a woman she has the main responsibility for home and family.
Lisa is a young and outgoing woman. She studies to be a teacher and at the same time fills in as a herdswoman, when suddenly she has a serious traffic accident. Her way back to life is long and she is struggling for recovery. She wants to make use of her time and works with the reindeer as much as she is able to. With all her strength she tries to master the challenges of every day life. Perhaps, in the future, she may be able to take over after her father.
The Sami are an indigenous people of the Arctic and live in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The Sami settlement area is called Sápmi.
NEWS!
Herdswoman was awarded with the Documentary Film Prize at the 50th Nordic Film Days in Lübeck! The film has earlier won an Audience Prize in Norway and Best Esthetic Award in Nepal.
The participants
Elisabeth is a woman who stands up for herself in a male-dominated trade. She hunts elk, she slaughters and cuts up the meat. She is the strongwoman, with a headstrongness that makes anything possible as long as you are determined enough.
The film makers
Original music for Herdswoman is beeing created by Nina Sarri Vahlberg. She is a graduate from the Royal College of Music and a freelance composer and music artist.
