Suddenly Sami

When Ellen finds out that her mother has been hiding her indigenous Sámi heritage from her, she sets out on a journey to northern Norway to find out why. There Ellen meets people, places and connections her mother left behind. But how can you suddenly become Sámi in the midst of your life? Is there possibility for her to enter a Sámi community without any competence of their culture?

Her mother grew up in the arctic part of Norway before the World War II, but in 1944 the Nazi troops torched northern Norway, she was evacuated southwards together with 70.000 other people. Some of them, like Ellen's mother, never went back to the Arctic. She settled in the suburb of Oslo and left the Sámi heritage behind. But her new life in the city came with a price tag. One of the few times when Ellen as child asked her mother if their family had any Sami connections; she became furious. Later on she often ridicules the Sami and the Arctic. Not bringing any pride of her background into the open. When the revitalization of the Sámi culture started in the early 80s, it was too late for Ellen's mother to gain acceptance for a background she had repressed for so long. Her energy was spent on forgetting - breaking up lines with people, stories and landscapes of her past. She was hiding - and in this shelter of protection there was loneliness and silent suffering. In the film Ellen tries to undo this to change her own lifeline and bound with her mother.