During the EP plenary session (13-16 November 2017) in Strasbourg, after the ceremony of Award of the LUX Prize 2017, Lene Cecilia SPARROK, actress of "Sami Blood", winner of LUX Prize 2017 expresses herself.

Strasbourg

plenary session

interview

LUX Cinema Prize 2017 (T)

Award of the LUX Prize 2017: interview of Lene Cecilia SPARROK, actress of "Sami Blood", winner of LUX Prize 2017

SOUNDBITE (Swedish): Lene Cecilia SPARROK, (sitting together with her sister) : For me personally it is wonderful I&rsquo;m very proud of this film coming so far and I&rsquo;m grateful.

SOUNDBITE (Swedish): Lene Cecilia SPARROK, (sitting together with her sister) : I certainly hope that more people become aware of the fact that this is a big part of the Sami history and it is wonderful to know that this is at the forefront of the discussion. And I hope that people would become more aware of the fact that history has been far from perfect and what is really fascinating and I&rsquo;m travelling when the film is shown all around the world and people are really surprised when they see this, because people don&rsquo;t know that Sweden and Norway and other European countries have treated the Sami people this badly, because this is something not spoken about.

SOUNDBITE (Swedish): Lene Cecilia SPARROK, (sitting together with her sister) : Well everything was difficult, it is our first film and we have never played any theatre or so, everything required a lot of work, but for me personally there had been quite a few scenes that had been difficult for me. Just the idea of leaving the Sami society behind, leaving my little sister behind, I&rsquo;m personally I would have never done this. To leave the Sami traditions behind I would never be able to do it, because I feel so proud about my Sami identity, so that was really difficult for me. Then there were a few scenes, like the measurement scene (at School), that was difficult.

SOUNDBITE (Swedish): Lene Cecilia SPARROK, (sitting together with her sister) : I have been raised in taking care of reindeers that is what is closest to my heart and the Sami language. So firstly politics should really strengthen the Sami language, so that we are really allowed to speak it and that it cannot be forgotten. That can easily happen in many places around the world, so it can happen in Sweden too. And then it is also important that we keep and protect our land. We need our lands to keep our reindeers and the traditional land where we can go with our animals can be kept in our hands. And that it is not exploited through the industries and so on, that is really what I would fight for, to keep the land for our reindeers.