La fjella leve / Let Our Mountains Live

An enormous wind farm stretches across raw, hilly fields in northern Norway. The grazing lands of reindeer are covered with 151 wind turbines with rotor diameters of more than 100 metres. Because reindeer husbandry is an essential part of Sámi culture, herders from the region took to the courts to fight the installation of the wind farm. Their claim was successful, with Norway’s supreme court ruling that the turbines amounted to a human rights violation. The verdict triggered hope in the Sámi community, but 500 days later, the Norwegian government still had not taken any steps to have the wind farm dismantled. Instead, the Sámi were painted as opponents of environmental progress. So activists occupied the energy ministry – and one year later, they are in court themselves, accused of obstructing state authority. The film follows the small group of reindeer herders as they persist in their fight for their land, their cultural heritage, and their future.