Sámi Film Festival at Majestic Bay Theatres

About the Sámi Film Festival

The annual Sámi Film Festival celebrates the rich storytelling traditions of the Sámi, an Indigenous people of the northernmost parts of Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Now in its 7th year, the festival presents a variety of newly released and classic Sámi features, documentaries, and short films, sharing Sámi film with a global audience.

Ways to Watch in Seattle, Washington

All films will be screened Friday, February 7th and Saturday, February 8th at Majestic Bay Theatres in Seattle.

Friday's Opening night tickets: $16
($13 for National Nordic Museum Members)
Opening Night 

Saturday All Day Festival Pass: $40
($30 for National Nordic Museum Members)
Saturday Festival Pass

Become a Member to receive unlimited free admission, gain access to exclusive Member previews and special events, and enjoy a 10% discount in the Museum Store and café.

Alternate Ways to Watch

The 7th annual Sámi Film Festival will take place on February 6th to 13th, 2025 with both in-person and online streaming options.

In-Person Screenings:

• New York City, NY: February 6-7th at the Scandinavia House
• Seattle, WA: February 7-8th at Majestic Bay Theatres
• Anchorage, AK: February 10-11th at the Anchorage Museum

Virtual Streaming

• Online streaming will run from February 7th to 13th. Tickets will be available soon - stay tuned!

Matti Aikio, 2025 Sámi Film Festival Curator

The 2025 Festival is curated by acclaimed visual artist Matti Aikio, whose work in sound and video art has captivated audiences across the globe. Aikio’s was one of 12 artists featured in the National Nordic Museum Arctic Highways, a 2023 multimedia exhibition exploring contemporary art by Indigenous artists from the Arctic. The same year, he exhibited in the Helsinki Biennial.

Matti Aikio (b. 1980) comes from Vuotso, a small reindeer-herding Sámi village in northern Finland. He earned a bachelor of arts from Tromsø Academy of Contemporary Art in 2012. Aikio is a visual artist who works with photography and video, as well as with sculptural installations, sound art and music. He has also been a DJ since 2009. Aikio is interested in the concept of nomadism as a philosophy, culture and lifestyle. Along with his artistic practice, he is involved in nomadic reindeer herding, which his family has practiced for centuries.

Films

The festival will combine short films and feature films from different eras. New experimental films, which defy categorization in genres and resemble video art, will be paired with canonical films like Markku Lehmuskallio’s Skierri from 1982. 

“It is interesting to see how a film that was made over 40 years ago feels quite fresh in how it amplifies struggles that are still topical for the Sámi society,” -Matti Aikio, 2025 Sámi Film Festival Curator.

Skierri: Land of the Dwarf Birches

Finland, Sweden | 1982
dir. Markku Lehmuskallio
1 hour 58 minutes
Learn More: Letterboxd | IMDB 

Full film schedule coming soon!

Partnerships

The Sámi Film Festival originated as a partnership between the National Nordic Museum and Pacific Sámi Searvi in 2018.

In 2021, the festival expanded to include Scandinavia House in New York as a co-presenter, drawing audiences from the West and East coast, as well as reaching global audiences with onsite and streaming options.

This year, the Museum has expanded their partnership to include The Anchorage Museum, a significant art, history, ethnography, ecology, and science museum dedicated to studying and exploring the land, peoples, art, and history of Alaska.