Sami Blood (2016) on Netflix
In 1930s Sweden, fourteen-year-old Elle-Marja is sent with her sister Njenna to a nomad school for Sami children, where speaking Sami is punished. Scientists arrive to measure the pupils' heads.
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- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.2/108,808 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes97%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 2017, Christina, an elderly woman, travels with her son Olle and her granddaughter Sanna to Swedish Lapland for her younger sister's Sami funeral. Locals call her by her original Sami name, Elle-Marja, and she is disturbed to hear Southern Sami spoken around her. She thinks back to the 1930s, when she was fourteen and was sent with her sister Njenna to a nomad school for Sami children, where a teacher from Småland taught them Swedish and their place, and where speaking Sami brought beatings. Elle-Marja was among the best pupils and was given a book of poetry. Scientists came from a racial biology institute in Uppsala to measure the children's heads and photograph them.
Cast
- Mia Sparrokas Njenna
- Maj-Doris Rimpias Elle Marja
- Ylva Gustafssonas Laevie
- Hanna Aspas Ingrid
- Kajsa Karlssonas Märta
Show all 16 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Sami Blood (2016)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The first ten minutes of Sami Blood, and part of its ending, come directly from Stoerre Vaerie, a 2015 short film directed by Amanda Kernell.
- Sami Blood holds a first: it was the first feature fiction film to receive funding from the International Sámi Film Institute.
- Sami Blood won the top prize at the 2017 Göteborg Film Festival, the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film, which carries one million Swedish kronor, about US$114,000, and is one of the world's largest film prizes.
- At the Tokyo International Film Festival, Lene Cecilia Sparrok won the best actress award for Sami Blood and gave her acceptance speech in Sami; in real life she is a teenage reindeer herder.
