Seitsemän laulua tundralta (2000)

	Also Known As: Seven songs from the tundra
	Year of first release: 2000
	Director: Anastasia Lapsui, Markku Lehmuskallio
	Actors: -
	Country: FIN
	Genre: Drama, Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 17.02.2017, Cubix8, Berlinale2017, Russian/Nenets version with English subtitles
Synopsis: In the middle of the vast white tundra, a reindeer is sacrificed by a small group of devout people. A spell-binding song accompanies and describes the moment. The recent history of the Nenets is told. The invasion by the Soviet Union. Independent and prosperous nomadic reindeer herders were forcefully expropriated of their resources and relocated. They were expected to give up not only their  language and traditions, but also their children to the residential school system.
Review: The movie is shown in black and white with a grainy style from explorator documentaries such as Charcot ans Shackleton. Having a style between documentary and fiction, the movie is a mix of recent movie material (ca 2000) and archival material.  It let me go and feel the identity loss and will of survival as people. This can be watched like a series of tales. Via this story telling where each tale is very simple but authentic, the story becomes very interesting. Unfortunately the style is quite hard to watch. And therefore the good stories barely touched my emotions. The Q&A with the director Anastasia Lapsui is reported in the article on the Berlinale 2017.
Rating: 3 /10