Skábmagovat Indigenous Film Festival

Skábmagovat Indigenous Peoples’ Film Festival creates an annual meeting point open for everyone to celebrate Indigenous cinema and other forms of Indigenous storytelling. Skábmagovat takes place in the Sámi homelands in Aanaar (Inari) in Finland in the late January. The film programme includes short films, music videos, documentaries and feature films told through Indigenous lens. The festival brings together filmmakers from around the globe and offers audiences a special opportunity to see new, unique works and gain unforgettable encounters.

Skábmagovat Indigenous Film Festival is one of the oldest Indigenous film festivals in the world and known for its quality content and one-of-a-kind environment. Its speciality is its outdoor theater which is thoroughly made of snow. Snow theater is an experience even to adept movie goers as well as festival veterans – films are seen sometimes even under -30 degrees temperature. Surely films are shown indoors too, making enjoyment from feature films possible. Skábmagovat film screenings run from Thursday to Sunday, from dawn to dusk.

Skábmagovat has a significant role as a contributor to the Sámi film industry’s visibility and capacity building. The festival has established international visitor base from the film industry and other festivals looking for to discover new and unique works. Skábmagovat is the only Indigenous film festival within the Finnish cultural context and therefore plays an important role of diversifying the film field in Finland too.

One of the festival’s most important mission is to promote Indigenous on-screen storytelling and to foster creativity and freedom of speech. Skábmagovat aims to strengthen cultural collaboration between peoples to create a place of belonging where Indigenous languages can be heard. In addition, the festival showcases multidisciplinary art projects too in the side events. The program consists i.a. workshops, discussions and club nights at our very own SkábmaKlubba.

Skábmagovat invites all film and art lovers to enjoy the festival's offerings and immerse themselves in the world of Indigenous stories.