Competitionfilms a-z

Olga – To My Friends

D: Paul-Anders Simma, CI: Elen Lotman, ED: Anders Teigen
FIN/NOR/SWE 2013, OwE, 58‘

 

In Russian Lapland, 1800 km north of Moscow, temperatures can fall below minus 30 degrees in the winter. This is where Olga lives, watching over the reindeer hunters’ equipment until they return in spring. A cat keeps her company, the work is her religion. Life here is full of dangers: food is often stolen, Olga escapes from a bear, and was once trampled by the reindeer herd. Nevertheless, this snowbound solitude has become her home. Olga grew up in an orphanage, later she discovered her alcoholic parents belonged to the Sami people. Now she’s been told that the reindeer station will be closed: “My whole life is like that, full of confusion.”

Paul-Anders Simma has over 30 years’ experience in film and television. He made his first film in Olga’s hometown Lovozero in 1979, when the Communists were still in power. He is himself a Sami, which gives him an insider’s perspective on the life of the Russian Sami people.

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