Alison Griffiths takes us on a journey through the film archive to explore the vibrant cultural history and resilience of Sámi peoples in some of the earliest films made in the Sápmi region. How do archival films inscribe the landscape, cultural heritage, and memory of Sámi peoples whose ancestral roots extend deep into recorded time? And how can contemporary works made by Sámi artists reimagine this archival history by incorporating photographs and films that evoke themes of belonging and connectedness? Finally, what responsibilities do archives have as caretakers of Indigenous audiovisual heritage, and what best practices are there for repatriating films to their homelands?
Alison Griffiths is a Distinguished Professor of film and visual culture at Baruch College, The City University of New York. The author of three award-winning books and over fifty articles on film history and culture, Griffiths is undertaking research on Sámi film heritage at the National Library of Norway as part of a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Arctic Studies.
The lecture will be held in English, and it will be streamed online.