Sara Margrethe Oskal on THE TUNDRA WITHIN ME (TIFF 2023) – Rachel West interviews
In her first directorial debut feature, Sara Margrethe Oskal turned to her homeland for inspiration. A former reindeer herder, Oskal left her Sámi community in northern Norway to venture south where she is a successful artist and writer. Now, it’s her past that is giving inspiration for her first film, The Tundra Within Me.
“I think it’s about time to tell a love story from this area, from a contemporary reindeer herding community, showing these people who live under this harsh environment seeing their emotions, feelings and their love for each other, to nature and the animals,” Oskal says in an interview ahead of TIFF where the film will make its world premiere.
The film follows Lena (Risten Anine Kvernmo Gaup), a Sámi who returns to her hometown for a new art project where she confronts the decisions of her past and unexpectedly finds new love.
Though it is set in a very specific geographical place and culture, the themes of the film are universal as Oskal, who also wrote the script, says, “We are struggling with these dilemmas all the time, keeping up the traditions, but also wanting to be a part of the modern society, how to balance that. I think that is going to be relevant for many people all around the world, no matter what culture you belong to. But now I invite you into my culture so you will know more about reindeer herding about the Sámi people, but you will also hopefully be touched by this love story.”
“My aim is always to be as authentic as possible, meaning that I’m not afraid of showing life as it is both with the nice and not-so-nice. Emotions are nice. And I don’t want to make other stereotypical depictions of us because there are enough stereotypical pictures of the Sámi people and indigenous people all around the world. I am very conscious about that,” she adds.
When we meet Lena, she is confident and successful, but appearances are deceiving. Oskal says, “We slowly see her opening up, and we see it definitely through her art, how she gets more in contact with her own emotions and finally finding the tundra in her as an artist.”
Both of the film’s leads – Risten Anine Kvernmo Gaup and Nils Ailu Kemi – make their feature film acting debuts in The Tundra Within Me. “They didn’t know each other even though they’re from the same village, but she is within the arts and he is a reindeer herder in real life,” Oskal explains. “When searching for the main character, I was like, for me, it doesn’t matter what dialect what Sámi language he speaks, he must be a good actor. For Matthe, the character, it was very important that he must be able to do everything that I have described in the script, you have to believe in the character knowing the course.”
Oskal revelled in working with her cast to “really get in touch with their feelings” by asking them, “What if you are in this situation? What if you are going to sell all your home? What if you can’t get one if you cannot love the person that you love, how would you react?” The casting truly paid off as both come alive on screen with performances that belie their experience. “This mixture with trained actors and not experienced actors is really good so that gives also a dynamic that I really like,” she adds.
The Tundra Within Me also showcases the Sámi culture, especially when it comes to humour. “I’ve been working with humour, I have a Ph.D. in Sámi humour and storytelling from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, so that’s how we are. We are using humour quite often,” Oskal says. “Even though life can be hard, we have to be able to laugh at ourselves. That’s the way we can survive as a people.”
“We were filming in my family’s areas, in the areas where I had been working as a reindeer herder so it was really special for me to get back there and be there as a filmmaker watching my family and preparing the reindeer herd for us,” she says of the film’s stunning landscape. “Nature really showed herself in all her beauty. We had all kinds of weather: we had cold, we had snowy weather, the Northern Lights, and the sun coming back. It was it was just beautiful.”
Some of the conversation in the film revolves around female reindeer herders who don’t wish to be singled out for doing the same jobs as men. It’s an interesting dichotomy and one that is echoed well beyond the borders of northern Norway.
“When I was a reindeer herder, I think I tried to be a man, working like a man, even though I don’t have the physics for that,” says Oskal. “It’s not possible and then not appreciating my part, as I am, as a woman, with this body with these skills. I think we always need to be reminded that it’s enough to be just who you are.”
With so much of her own personal story connected to The Tundra Within Me, when asked what she learned about herself during the making of the film, the director is emotional as she reflects on her journey to the film’s premiere. “I have discovered that I do enjoy making people surprise themselves, that I can make them go into places where they might not have thought they would be able to do has been really, really nice. I love directing.”
“By making this film and going back to the areas where I used to be as a reindeer herder, it has been kind of an emotional experience. I was not aware of that, that I would find the tundra within me making this film, and without the reindeer, because I don’t have any reindeer anymore. But I now feel I have found the tundra within me making this. It has been really important to me.”
The Tundra Within Me is bound to connect with audiences in Toronto and beyond, and for Oskal, sharing the film with the Sámi community is something she hopes they will appreciate. “I think I hope that they will recognize themselves and be so glad that they finally get a love story that they can be emotional, be joyful, feel sorrow and have all those feelings going through their bodies and saying that it was a good story. I really hope they will love the film as much as I do.”
The Tundra Within Me screens on Sept. 11 at 3:45pm and on Sept. 13 at 2:45pm as part of TIFF’s Discovery programme.
