Technical information about the film
Title: Kautokeino Rebellion
Original title: Kautokeino-opprøret
Year: 2008
Produced in: Kautokeino
Director: Nils Gaup
Scriptwriter: Nils Isak Eira , Nils Gaup, Reidar Jønsson, Pelone Wahl
Music: Mari Boine, Svein Schulz, Herman Runberg
Photography: Philip Øgaard
Editing: Thomas Täng, Jan Olof Svarvar
Length: 92 minutes
Main actresses and actors and the names of their characters
| Actor | Character |
| Aslak Matthis Gaup | Mattis Hætta |
| Mikkel Gaup | Aslak Hætta |
| Nils Peder Gaup | Mons Somby |
| Mikael Persbrandt | Carl Johan Ruth |
| Bjørn Sundquist | Nils Vibe Stockfleth |
| Sverre Porsanger | Ruth’s assistant |
| Peter Andersson | Lars Johan Bucht |
| Michael Nyqvist | Lars Levi Læstadius |
The film has won several awords
- Best Actress : Anni-Kristiina Juuso
- Best Cinematography : Philip Øgaard
- Best Production Design : Karl Júlíusson
- Best Score : Mari Boine
The Audience Award at the 22nd Nordic Film Festival in Rouen, France 2009 was received by director Nils Gaup.
Director – Nils Gaup
Gaup is himself a Sámi was born in Kautokeino in 1955. He became an actor and started his career on the stage in 1988. He set up the first Sámi theatre, Beaivváš Sámi Theater, but he is most famous as a filmmaker. The movie
The Pathfinder (Veiviseren) from 1987 was his first great success. The film is based on an old sámi legend, and it was nominated for Oscar as the best foreign film. The Pathfinder became the most popular DVD in many countries.
His next film was released in 1990. It was about the Norwegian king Håkon Håkonsen, also a success. It was especially popular as an American TV-series so after this film Gaup got an offer from Holiwood to direct the drama Not without my daughter with Sally Field but he refused this and made a follow up of called Head above water (Hodet over vannet) from 1993. He received the Norwegian award Amanda for this film.
Gaup worked for some time in Hollywood on different types of projects.
He moved back to Norway and made a production for the NRK (The Norwegain Broadcast) producing Nini, a drama series. In 1999 he directed Misery Harbour, a coproduction between Norway, Canada, Sweden and Denmark. In 2002 Gaup finally started working on the Kautokeino Rebellian, something he had wanted to do for a long time. The film was released in 2008 and won five Amanda rewards.
Comments on the film Kautokeino Rebellion
For centuries the mountain plateau in Finmark, the northern part of Norway, has been populated by the Sámi nation, nomads herding their reindeer. This film is focusing on the transition to a modern society and the relationship between the coming up of the modern state of Norway and the traditional life of the Sámi people in these areas.
The film is based on a historic incident that took place in Kautokeino in 1852. In this rebellion the tradesman and the local policeman were killed. In the following trial the two sámi leaders Aslak Jacobsen Hætta and Mons Aslaksen Somby were judged and executed.
The village of Kautokeino is ruled by the rich and brutal tradesman Ruth. The conflict starts when the young woman Elen, head of one of the Sámi groups (the siida) refuses to pay an unjust dept to the tradesman. The tradesman uses his connections with the authorities and most adult men in Elens group are sent to jail without a trial. She manages to get a trial for them, but the tradesman is demanding most of their best reindeer to cover the cost of the trial. This leaves them without an income and the incident releases one of the most dramatic events in Norwegian history in this period.
The incident has been told in Norwegian textbooks for many years, but usually as a terrible and violent uprising related to an extreme religious movement. This is the first time it is told from the Sámi perspective by a person knowing the sámi language and culture.
The film is introducing us to the different cultures and to dramatic misunderstandings between the Norwegian and the Sámi. The exploitation of the Sámi people by representatives from the Norwegian authorities is clear, but the film also leaves the spectator with certain questions. Did the authorities understand that they left the She ámis with no means of living when they incarcerated all men and asked for their best reindeer as a fine. The men’s work was vital the group living in the mountains and the work could not easily be done by the women. The reindeer was the basis of their subsistence and loosing the best animals was catastrophic. Quite possibly they had not enough knowledge of the organization of the Sámi society as most of them were not locals, but built their career by working some years in the far north. On the other hand, did the Sámi understand the implication of opposing the authorities and the power of the state and the church. Possibly not. They were following a Christian religious leader, trusting him, but he was in opposition to the church. The distance between the two cultures was important.
Sources:
The Internet Movie database
Norsk filminstitutt
http://www.nfi.no/english/norwegianfilms/show.html?id=699
International Rome film festival
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117935943.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
Music from the film
http://musikk.telenormobil.no/site/web3/view.ftl?page=product&productId=2064356
Click on the flags to see how each partner responded to the film.
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