“Snow Dreams is a very brave series”

– Snödrömmar had 2,6 million viewers per episode and was followed by 66 percent of the population. It is a very brave series that addresses different issues than you usually do, said Erik Norberg from our company Filmpool Nord, which co-produced the Christmas calendar.

Snödrömmar is about a Sami family that runs the ski resort of Gavmofjäll. This particular December, there is no snow there and the family may have to leave the place where they have lived for generations. To save Gavmofjäll, sisters Ristin and Aila travel deeper into the parallel world of Saajvoe than the adults thought possible. It is also about a local councilor who wants the valuable crystal Gavmolit. The missing, magical object Tjelmetje plays a central role.

– When it came out, there were comparisons to Greta Thunberg, that it was politically correct and about climate change. But it blew over. The criticism got no oxygen because everyone loved the series, said Norberg.

Living Sami spirituality

The idea first began to grow in Jonas Wallerström, one of the screenwriters. The plan was to draw inspiration from Sami sagas and legends, but when he dug deeper, he found a living Sami spirituality that is not spoken about loudly.

– It went from a fun project with an exciting essence to telling about a part of Sami culture that I had never understood existed and was alive today, he said.

Nik Märak – who played the leader of the Saajvoe people, Sire – explained.
– We don't have a ghost world or a make-believe world, it's very much alive with us and sensitive to talk about. We managed to show it with Snödrömmar without it becoming too remarkable. You don't pour hot water just anywhere, you don't build just anywhere, she said.

“Delight mixed with horror”

Lovisa Mienna Sjöberg, a researcher in Sami stories and spirituality, said that she was delighted to receive the news of a Sami Christmas calendar. She was worried that it would be a romanticized or unrealistic depiction. But the end result – it was absolutely fantastic, according to Lovisa.

Researcher Lovisa Mienna Sjöberg and screenwriter Jonas Wallerström participated remotely.

– It portrays the Sami community in an honest way. I am so grateful that this advent calendar exists and that it became a warm portrayal, in our times where we see man's predatory drive on nature and how nature turns against us. These relationships have been broken, abused. There is something deeply existential in re-establishing belonging to the land, the water and everything around.

The story aroused a lot of emotion and has gained great importance, not least within the Sami community.

– I received messages from parents who sat and cried almost every night, children who started using the language. We constantly hear how understanding is increasing. In the preschools, children talk about Snow Dreams. There is an incredible amount of hope in the new generation, said Märak.

“Awesome scene”

At the conference, the scene was shown when Sires' lost son Sören, with his yoik, blows up the crystal wall that has closed the way between Saajvoe and our world.

– Many people heard about the yoik scene when they stood at the crystal wall. It's not so ceremonial, it's pretty everyday "regular car-themed guys" who yoik. That scene struck a chord with people, Jonas said.

– It's a really strong scene because there's humor and self-distance. But it's Sören who makes the breakthrough, the movement from the rational into the other. It's an incredibly strong image of someone finding themselves, said Erik Norberg.

Text: Sara Stylbäck Vesa
Photos: Simon Eliasson