Dr Kate Moffat's Leverhulme Trust funded project examines recent transformations in the film and media industries of the indigenous Sámi people who inhabit the northernmost Arctic region of Europe. Sovereignty remains a critical concern for indigenous peoples across the Nordic region. Entitlement to economic self-governance, access to land and the right to political expression have long been significant issues of contention in the political agendas of the Nordic countries. Recently, the media industry has become one of the most critical vehicles for articulating indigenous people’s rights and interests. However, this has not always been the case: the autonomy of this emerging media industry is particularly significant because the Nordic countries have a long history of using media politics to re-appropriate indigenous imagery and voices in ways that commodify the Sámi. At the same time, they showcase their ‘progressive’ ideas on indigenous inclusion. Several initiatives have helped to overcome this longstanding process of assimilation.

One initative has been the establishment of the Norway-based International Sami Film Institute (ISFI), which has become an outlet for expressing indigenous concerns over sovereignty, cultural erasure and misrepresentation. Another is increasing creative pan-national collaboration through digital media platforms between indigenous institutions at local and global levels, in which the ISFI plays a significant role. Shifting away from national agendas is an ambition shared by Arctic indigenous media producers in Canada, Greenland and Russia, and we are increasingly witnessing partnerships between these organisations. These include the film streaming service Sapmifilmi and the annual indigenous film and arts event imagineNATIVE, which represents a culmination of these resurgent voices.

Focusing specifically on these evolving digital strategies and network relationships between the Norwegian-based International Sámi Film Institute and other transnational indigenous media organisations, Dr Moffat explores how policymaking and digital platforms are shaping interactions between these stakeholders in three ways. Firstly through education and training, through policies centred on the marketability of indigenous culture, and, finally, through the digital archiving practices of these indigenous organisations. Dr Moffat's research contextualises these areas with the rise of alternative research methodologies, such as those guided by decolonial education practices.

Sami Blood, dir. Kernell 2016