Rabat – Nordic Film Week wrapped up its four-day run in Rabat on Thursday with the screening of Swedish documentary “Historjá – Stitches for Sápmi,” directed by Thomas Jackson.
The film follows Sámi artist Britta Marakatt-Labba, whose intricate embroidery tells stories of Sámi history, culture, and mythology. Through her art and her family’s connection to reindeer herding, the documentary explores the importance of preserving Indigenous traditions as climate change threatens the community’s way of life.
Stitching Sámi stories into art
The Sámi are Indigenous people whose traditional territories span northern parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia. Their culture has long been connected to the land, with reindeer herding playing an important role in many communities.
Marakatt-Labba uses embroidery to document this heritage, turning stories, landscapes, and cultural memories into detailed visual narratives. Her work preserves traditions while giving them a place in contemporary art.
The documentary also examines the challenges Sámi communities face as environmental changes affect their traditional livelihoods. Climate change puts pressure on the landscapes that support reindeer herding, raising concerns about the future of practices closely tied to Sámi identity.
Through Marakatt-Labba’s artistic journey, “Historjá” explores how cultural expression can help keep a community’s history alive while its relationship with the environment continues to change.
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Four days of Nordic cinema
The final screening brought Nordic Film Week to a close, following three days of films from Finland, Norway, and Greenland. Together, the four films offered Moroccan audiences a glimpse into the stories, cultures, and climates of the Nordic region.
Finland’s “Maja” opened the festival with the story of a young woman building a life on a remote island in the 19th century. Norwegian documentary “Folktales” followed teenagers learning survival skills and working with sled dogs at a school in northern Norway, exploring independence and life beyond digital distractions.
On Wednesday, Greenlandic film “Inuk” took audiences to the Arctic through the story of a teenager reconnecting with Inuit traditions during a journey across the ice. The closing screening shifted the focus to Sweden, using Marakatt-Labba’s art to explore the preservation of Sámi heritage.
‘Arctic Horizons’
Organized by the embassies of Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden in Morocco under the theme “Arctic Horizons,” the festival offered more than a cinematic tour of the Nordic region.
By bringing these stories to Rabat, it gave Moroccan audiences the chance to encounter different cultural perspectives and reflect on shared questions of identity, tradition, and environmental change.
The program also showed how cinema can foster cultural exchange, connecting audiences across borders through stories rooted in distinct places and experiences.