FESTIVAL PREMIERE
Sámi vs. Sámi
Director: Ellen - Astri Lundby
Over a century ago, the Swedish state forcibly relocated Northern Sámi families into Southern Sámi territory, resulting in a long-running conflict over land, reindeer herding and, ultimately, the right to be Sámi. Since then, the state has remained silent.
Across generations, state decisions deepened the divide, leaving third-generation descendants Erik (Southern Sámi) and Inger Ann (Northern Sámi) facing each other in three emotionally charged court proceedings – a rare courtroom battle between Indigenous groups, documented on film for the first time.
Beneath the legal arguments lie two families shaped by different injustices. Is there ever a real winner when both sides are victims of the same history? How do you resolve an unresolvable conflict?
Director Ellen-Astri Lundby is a Sea Sámi descendant from Norway. This positions her outside the conflict, enabling her to explore it with a sense of belonging and perspective.
CAST & CREDITS
Director
Ellen - Astri Lundby
Producer
Johanna Dorothea Raita, Mette Cheng Munthe - Kaas
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
Can there be a shared future when the past is remembered so differently?
I am Sámi, but I do not own a single reindeer. My family comes from the coastal Sámi in Finnmark, who for generations helped reindeer-herding Sámi move their herds across the fjords. That history of friendship stands in stark contrast to the bitter divisions I see today, where Sámi are fighting each other in court and even within families.
This is why I need to make this film. The conflict in Tärnaby between South Sámi and relocated North Sámi is not only about land and reindeer – it is about how state policies and colonial practices tore the Sámi apart. By telling this story, I want to expose how governments deliberately set groups against each other, a strategy that made it easier to seize Indigenous lands for power plants, mines, and tourism.
For me, this film is also about healing. I want to ask: how did it come to this, that two Sámi groups were treated so differently? And is reconciliation still possible?
The film follows both sides closely, revealing deep wounds but also the resilience of families tied to each other, their ancestors, and their land. It builds toward the final decision at the Swedish Supreme Court, which will ultimately determine the future of Sámi reindeer herding in the region of Umeå.
Sámi Verus Sámi is both an intimate Sámi story and a universal drama of displacement and belonging. It speaks to Indigenous struggles everywhere, and it is my contribution to ensuring that these stories are neither silenced nor forgotten.
DIRECTORS BIO
Ellen Lundby has worked as an independent director and producer since 1989. She gained international recognition with Out of Place (2001) and The Fourth Wife (2004), but is best known for her award-winning and widely screened documentary Suddenly Sámi (2009), about identity, ethnicity, and the forced assimilation of the Sámi. The film reached over 430,000 viewers on Norwegian television, screened at festivals worldwide, won multiple awards including Nepal’s International Indigenous Film Festival, and continues to be used in academic settings. Her follow-up, Yoik Fever (2013), premiered at imagineNATIVE in Toronto, the world’s leading Indigenous film festival, and has been used in national educational programs in Norway.
Lundby’s first feature documentary, Burning Memories (2018), screened theatrically, was broadcast on NRK, toured extensively in the north of Norway, and won both jury and audience awards at international festivals. Her films, often exploring themes of Sámi culture, history, and resilience, have reached broad audiences at home and abroad, establishing her as a vital voice in Indigenous and human rights cinema.
