ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the development of filmmaking by Indigenous Sámi women in the Nordic countries in light of Sámi political activism during the 1970s, and contextualizes this movement in the context of later film and media policy. The chapter finds the lack of Sámi film productions between 1970 and 1979 to stand in stark contrast to Canada, where film served as a political medium for Indigenous women. The chapter traces a confluence of factors that have led to change, including the establishment of the International Sámi film Institute. Between 2009 and 2020, 76 Sámi films were produced, with 41 of them directed by women. Using the concept of visual sovereignty, the chapter concludes that there are no contemporary visual representations of the 1970s Sámi protests and cultural movements by Sámi women, but that recent audiovisual works has returned to represent some of these events.
