Kaisa's Enchanted Forest is a beautiful film that tells the story of a Nordic people who have almost disappeared: the Skolt Sami. These hard-pressed people are also this year's people at Riddu Riđđu. Take the opportunity to get to know their culture when we screen the film on 1 June!
Time: 1 June at 19.00
Location: Centre for Northern Peoples
Entrance: 70,-
The starting point for the film is Swiss writer Robert Crottet's fascination with a people who, throughout history, have been deprived of land and cultural heritage. After dreaming about them in a tuberculosis sanatorium in the 1930s, he travels north to live with the Skolt Sami in northern Finland. Here he develops a close friendship with the matriarch Kaisa, who among other things gives him an insight into the rich fairytale tradition of the Skolt Sami.
Using Crottet's books, photos, videos and sound recordings, director Katja Gauriloff - Kaisa's own great-granddaughter - has created both a rich family chronicle and a magical snapshot of a meeting between two cultures. With poetic animations depicting the legends of the Skolt Sami, and a rich sound archive of Kaisa's subtle personality and storytelling style, this is an intimate and warm portrait of a time, a place and a people. Kaisa was director Katja Gauriloff's great-grandmother, and one of the last cultural memory bearers and storytellers of the Skolt Sami.
Katja Gauriloff (b. 1972) is a Finnish documentary filmmaker with Sami roots. She studied film directing at TAMK in Tampere, Finland and is co-owner of the production company Oktober. Her previous documentary Canned Dreams was screened at the Berlin Film Festival in 2012.
The film is subtitled in English.
Original title: KUUN METSÄN KAISA
Director: Katja Gauriloff
Manus: Katja Gauriloff
Photo: Heikki Farm
Playing time: 1 hour 22 min
Year: 2016
Country: Finland
Manufacturer: Joonas Berghäll, Satu Majava
Age limit: 15 years