Walt Disney Animation Studios to Create Sámi Language Translation of Frozen 2

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Walt Disney Animation Studios Will Soon Begin Casting for the Sámi Language Version of Frozen 2, as a Result of a Collaboration Between WDAS and the Sámi People.

BURBANK, California, & KARASJOK, Norway, KIRUNA, Sweden, INARI, Finland,
July 19th, 2019

The Sámi language version of the film is a result of a collaboration between the Sámi Parliamentary Council (SPC) and The Saami Council and Walt Disney Animation Studios, wherein filmmakers of Frozen 2 have sought and received consultation with a Sámi working group on elements within the film that are inspired by their visit to the Sámi homelands. More information about the collaboration will be shared later this year.

“For all of our films at Disney Animation, research is crucial to building fantastical yet relatable and believable worlds. At the genesis of creating Frozen 2, our filmmaking team embarked on a research trip to Iceland, Norway and Finland. We were deeply moved by so many of the places we visited and the people we met, including a visit with the Sámi,” said producer Peter Del Vecho.

In a joint statement, the presidents of the Sámi Parliaments and the Saami Council – Aili Keskitalo (Nor), Tuomas Aslak Juuso (Fin), Per-Olof Nutti (Se) and Åsa Larsson-Blind (Council), expressed their enthusiasm.

“We are deeply proud and grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Disney Animation. We are beyond excited that the film, Frozen 2, will be accessible to Sámi children in their own native tongue. It is also very gratifying to be able to share the news now as the UN celebrates the International Year of Indigenous Languages this year,” said the Sámi presidents.

Rick Dempsey, SVP Creative for Disney Character Voices International, and his team will oversee the casting and adaptation of Frozen 2 into the indigenous Northern Sámi language. Disney Animation and Disney Character Voices International most recently engaged with key partners in Tahiti, Hawai‘i and New Zealand to create indigenous Tahitian, Hawaiian and Māori language versions of Moana, respectively.

Walt Disney Animation Studios will begin casting for the Northern Sámi language version of Frozen 2 soon. The Sámi version is planned to be released simultaneously with the other Nordic versions of the movie, in December 2019.

 

ABOUT WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS:

Combining masterful artistry and storytelling with groundbreaking technology, Walt Disney Animation Studios is a filmmaker-driven animation studio responsible for creating some of the most beloved films ever made. Located in Burbank, WDAS continues to build on its rich legacy of innovation and creativity, from the first fully-animated feature film, 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to 2013’s Academy Award®-winning Frozen, the biggest animated film of all time. Among the studio’s timeless creations are Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Big Hero 6 and Zootopia. 

 

More information:

https://www.disneyanimation.com

https://www.youtube.com/disneyanimation

https://www.twitter.com/disneyanimation

https://www.instagram.com/disneyanimation

https://www.facebook.com/disneyanimation

 

For Frozen 2 imagery, please visit: https://www.image.net/Frozen2

 

ABOUT THE SÁMI PARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL AND THE SAAMI COUNCIL:

The Sámi Parliaments are the independent and representative bodies elected by and representing the Sámi people living in Norway, Finland and Sweden. They act as institutions of cultural autonomy for the indigenous Sámi people and deal with all matters concerning the Sámi people.

The Sámi Parliamentary Council is a co-operated body for the Sámi Parliaments in Finland, Norway and Sweden and with permanent participants from the Russian Sámi. SPC works by the notion of the Sámi being one people, whose unity is not broken by national borders.

The Saami Council is a non-governmental organization in Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden that has actively dealt with Sámi policy tasks since it was founded in 1956. Its primary aim is the promotion of Sámi rights and interests.

More information:

https://samediggi.no/Samedikki-birra2/About-the-Sami-Parliament

https://www.samediggi.fi/?lang=en

https://www.sametinget.se/lang/english

http://www.saamicouncil.net/en/about-saami-council

 

PRESS CONTACTS:

Walt Disney Animation Studios
Amy Astley
Amy.Astley@disney.com

 

Sámi Presidents

  • President of the Sámi Parliament in Norway,
    Aili Keskitalo, e-mail: keskitalo@samediggi.no, phone: +47 971 29 305
  • Vice President of the Sámi Parliament in Finland,
    Tuomas Aslak Juuso, e-mail: juuso@samediggi.fi, phone: +358 40 1871 331
  • President of the Sámi Parliament in Sweden,
    Per-Olof Nutti, e-mail: per-olof.nutti@sametinget.se, phone: +46 0980 780 27
  • President of the Saami Council,
    Åsa Larsson Blind, e-mail: asa@saamicouncil.net, phone: +46 70 254 33 56

For other inquires, contact Rune Fjellheim, general director of the Sámi Parliament of Norway and head of the working group established by the Sámi Parliamentary Council and The Saami Council, e-mail: rune.fjellheim@samediggi.no, phone: +47 910 09 320

Sámi Parliament’s Call Center is Closed from 1st of June to 4th of August

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Sámi Parliament’s call center is closed form 1st of July to 4th of August.

Sámi Parliament wishes a great summer to everyone!

 

Contact information of the secretariat

The First New Illustrations of the Ethical Guidelines of Sámi Tourism Have Been Released

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Young Sámi comic artist, Sunna Kitti, illustrates Principles for Responsible and Ethically Sustainable Sámi Tourism -guidelines. All the new illustrations are now ready and waiting to be published. New material is primarily meant to be used as study material for students in the field of tourism studies and for various sectors and actors in tourism industry and as well as for the tourists arriving to the Sámi Homeland in Finland

By combining illustrations with the text of the ethical guidelines, the Sámi Parliament in Finland wants to raise larger public awareness of the challenges of Sámi tourism. ‘We hope that the visual information clarifies the message of the guidelines and, thus, eases their internalisation and implementation.’ says the project co-ordinator Kirsi Suomi.

First illustrations are now released. The Future We Want -illustration is based on the vision in the ethical guidelines. Following the vision, the traditional livelihoods of the Sámi are viable and profitable. Modern livelihoods such as responsible and ethically sustainable tourism based on Sámi culture support the profitability of traditional livelihoods and promote employment locally.

According to the vision, there will be a Sámi tourism information centre distributing accurate information on the Sámi and Sámi culture to visitors and various interest groups in tourism industry. Furthermore, the centre has information about the responsibly and ethically sustainably operating Sámi tourism entrepreneurs. In the good vision, the everyday lives and festivities of the Sámi community as well as the land use in Sámi Homeland have also been successfully co-ordinated with the needs of tourism while primarily securing and respecting the rights of the Sámi and their culture.

The Future We Want. Illustration: Sunna Kitti

The opposite of the good vision is The Future We Do Not Want. In this illustration, the vision in the ethical guidelines has not taken place. The uncontrolled and constantly increasing numbers of visitors arriving to the Sámi Homeland have caused increasing amounts of challenges that have not been manageable or solved. The traditional livelihoods of the Sámi have been forced to retreat due to tourism. The safeguarding of the cultural practices and traditions of the Sámi not involved in tourism have failed. Instead, the everyday lives and festivities of local communities have ended up as tourist attractions against the wishes of the local people.

The Future We Do Not Want. Illustration: Sunna Kitti.

‘I hope my illustrations have impact on the way in which tourism industry and tourists react to and treat the Sámi and Sámi culture. Tourism based on incorrect and outdated conception of the Sámi reduces the already-limited space where Sámi can freely practice their own culture without being disturbed. I am worried that the villages [in the north] will become inhabitable for the locals’, says the comic artist Sunna Kitti when explaining why she decided to participate in the project by illustrating the ethical guidelines for Sámi tourism.

On September 24th in 2018, the Plenum of the Sámi Parliament in Finland accepted Principles for Responsible and Ethically Sustainable Sámi Tourism. The main aim of these ethical guidelines is to terminate tourism exploiting Sámi culture as well as erase false information and misrepresentations regarding the Sámi and Sámi culture spreading through tourism. The second aim is to safeguard the cultural practices and traditions of the Sámi not connected to tourism industry. The project has been financed by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

More information:

Co-ordinator Kirsi Suomi, Culturally Responsible Sámi Tourism, 010 839 3118, kirsi.suomi(at)samediggi.fi

Programme for Ijahis idja -festival is published

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The programme for Ijahis idja -indigenous music festival is published. The festival is organized in August in Inari for the 16th time. This year the festival’s theme is Saami languages, inspired by the United Nations’ year of indigenous languages. The festival weekend offers not only concerts, but also a discussion panel, Saami sports competition, Saami handicraft market as well as programme for children and youth.

The event starts on Friday 16.8. with Children’s Ijahis Idja. During the day pre-registered children and youth attend workshops and get to see short Saami films. They also get to show off their own talent in the youth concert Násttážat. Also Wimme Saari, Mihkku Laiti and the indigenous guest artist Aydar Churupov perform in the concert. Churupov comes from Siberia from the region of Altai, and represents the indigenous Telengit people.

The festival’s opening ceremony takes place on Friday at 6 p.m as yoiker Nils-Heikki Paltto and poet Inger-Mari Aikio enter the stage. At the same time the Saami handicraft market opens. After the ceremony Ijahis Idja- arena starts on the outdoor stage. In honour of UN’s year of indigenous languages Finland’s PEN, the writers’ association that promotes freedom of speech arranges a panel discussion Our Golden Language about the meaning of Saami literature to the Saami culture, Saami society and the endangered Saami languages. Pirita Näkkäläjärvi, a board member and the chair of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of the Finnish PEN will lead the panel discussion.

The first concert on Ijahis Idja’s main stage on Friday will be by Anna Morottaja, an Inari Saami singer who masters the tradition of livđe. Morottaja launches her debut album in the concert. After her, Niko Valkeapää, who also has recently launched a new album will perform with his band. Next in line is perhaps the most well known and popular Saami artist of them all, singer Mari Boine from Norway. Like Valkeapää, also Boine has recently launched new music. Friday’s last concert will be the up-beat DJ-collective Article 3, which plays music from Saami artists as well as other indigenous artists.

On Saturday 17.8. the programme starts with a concert at Saami museum Siida’s outdoor museum, in Tirro farmhouse. The intimate concert features yoiker Wimme Saari. The tickets for the concert are sold in Siida on the week of the event.

The festival area opens at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Saami handicraft market continues in the area. Traditionally Ijahis Idja- festival has offered a possibility to attend an indoor concert in the auditorium of Saami cultural center Sajos early on Saturday evening, and this year makes no exception. Festival’s theme concert I would like to combines together poetry, songs, yoiks and music in a fascinating way. Niko Valkeapää, Ánná Káisá Partapuoli, Øystein Nilsen and Inger-Mari Aikio will take the stage in the concert.

Máttut- concert opens the programme of the main outdoor stage on Saturday. In the concert Anna-Reetta Niemelä, Matias Niemelä, Petra Biret Magga-Vars and Anna Näkkäläjärvi-Länsman yoik the yoiks of Jávrrešduottar. Janne Lappalainen accompanies them with string instruments and percussions. Saturday’s programme also includes concerts from yoiker Øystein Nilsen, indigenous guest artist Aydar Churupov, Ume Saami singer Katarina Barruk and her band, electronic pop group ISÁK and the legendary folk rock group Sančuari on Ijahis Idja’s main stage outdoors. All of the above perform in Ijahis Idja now for the first time. Along the concerts is also a sports competition. The sport will be lassoo throwing, which requires accuracy and speed. The competition takes place in the yard of Sajos.

Ijahis idja 16.–17.8.2019 in Inari. Advance ticket sale starts on 5.7.2019.

Ijahis idja is arrenged by Anára Sámisearvi ry, the Finnish Saami Parliament, Saamelaisalueen koulutuskeskus, Saami museum Siida, the municipality of Inari and Yle Sápmi. Festival is in co-operation with Hotel Kultahovi, Wilderness Hotel Inari and Hotel Inari.

Contact Information:

Producer
Oula Guttorm
oula.guttorm(at)samediggi.fi
+358 40 667 4545

www.ijahisidja.fi