'Just in case Frozen had you thinking the chief concerns of young girls in old Lapland were building snowmen and breaking magic spells, along comes Sami Blood to set the record straight.' – Variety

Making her striking directorial debut (and winning the Best Director of a Debut Film award at the Venice Film Festival for her efforts), Swedish-Sami filmmaker Amanda Kernell delivers a female coming-of-age story set against the little-discussed social prejudices of 1930s Sweden, told with an emotional power that will resonate with audiences universally.

Reindeer-herding Sami teenager Elle-Marja is sent to a boarding school designed to make its Indigenous students 'acceptable' to white Swedish society, where she excels with her fierce intelligence. Newcomer Lene Cecilia Sparrok gives a wonderfully exuberant performance as a teenager torn between her forced desire to assimilate and burgeoning sense of self, while Kernell beautifully articulates adolescent anxiety and the impact of prejudice when one culture seeks to deny another.

'The lead performance by Lene Cecilia Sparrok is mesmerizing, easily one of the best of the year.' – Pop Matters