- [Announcer] This series was created in partnership with the Sundance Institute.

More information at sundance.org Funding for "Native Shorts" was made possible by a generous grant from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and from viewers like you.

(bold drumming music) ♪ (singing in indigenous language) ♪ ♪ ♪ - [Bird] "Native Shorts", presented by Sundance Institute's Indigenous Program.

- [Ariel] Hello, and welcome to "Native Shorts."

I'm Ariel Tweto.

- [Bird] And, I'm Bird Runningwater.

- And, on today's episode, we are going to watch one film, and it's called "Unborn Biru."

Bird, can you tell us a little bit about it, other than it's a horror film?!

Which, we haven't seen much of this season.

- No.

Yeah.

You know, it's kind of like love stories.

There's very few horror stories, but I feel like more and more in terms of genre, like, I feel like emerging filmmakers are exploring a lot broader kinds of storytelling, including scary ones.

- Yeah.

- Spooky, haunted.

- Spooky.

Yeah.

- Haunting.

- Haunt-!

I know, I'm a little nervous to watch this one!

I'm not that great with scary movies, so pardon me if I jump on your lap.

- Okay.

Well, this film comes from the Sámi people.

They are the indigenous people in the Arctic Circle on the Norway side of the world, in the Scandinavian part of Europe.

And, many people don't really know that there are indigenous people in that part of the world, and their indigenous territory is called Sápmi.

And, Sápmi extends from Norway, Sweden, Finland, over into Russia, and they're all known to be reindeer herders, reindeer people.

They live in, like, little-?

Well, they used to live in like, little structures that kind of resemble tepees, actually.

But, you know, they live in a tundra, very familiar like to you guys on the other side of the Arctic Circle.

And, I do believe there was a lot of interaction between them.

- Oh, yeah.

I think there was.

Like, Inuits and the-- yeah, very similar.

- One time I visited Kautokeino, Norway which is kind of like in the heart of Sápmi, and I remember them telling us, "Oh, the northern lights are out."

We went outside to look at them, and...I was kinda spooked by them.

I was like, "I don't know if I like this.

"What's the story?

Somebody tell me the story of these things."

And, Andrew MacLean, who's from - Yeah!

- you part of the world, Inupiaq.

- Inupiaq.

- He told us the symbolism from the Inupiaq point of view, and one of the Sámi people said, "Hey!

That's our story, as well."

So, there's a lot of similarities, you know, shared philosophies perhaps.

- Oh, yeah.

I think a lot of legends and myths that are similar, trying to keep the kids out of trouble.

- Yeah.

- And, warm.

- Well, the director is Inga Elin Marakatt.

She comes from the Sámi reindeer herding family in Sweden, and she went to school in this town of Kautokeino where there's a Sámi University.

- Okay.

I'm gonna close my eyes, and you guys keep watching!

"Unborn Biru."

(film machine whirring/clattering) [dark unsettling music] ♪ (breathing heavily) (fire crackling) (shaky breathing) ♪ (deep gasp) ♪ (soft rattling sounds) (exhales heavily) (fire crackling) [sullen music] ♪ ♪ (fire crackling) ♪ (stretching sounds) (crow cawing) (footsteps crunching snow) [dark somber music] ♪ (crow cawing) ♪ ♪ [heavy dark tonal music] ♪ (ski poles clacking) (skis scraping snow) (tired breathing) (footsteps crunching snow) (ski poles clacking) (people singing in Sámi language) (people inside singing in Sámi language) (Inga breathes heavily) (group singing in Sámi language) (door squeaks) (singing stops) [dark unsettling music] ♪ (minister speaks in Sámi language) [low somber string music] ♪ (Inga speaks in Sámi language) (minister speaks in Sámi language) (man speaks in Sámi language) (uneasy breathing) [somber music] ♪ (sniffling/shaky breathing) (Inga speaks in Sámi language) (door slams) ♪ (minister speaking in Sámi) (group singing in Sámi) (breathes heavily) (group sings in Sámi) ♪ (sobs/gasps) ♪ (Laila humming musically) [light string music] ♪ (Laila humming musically) (Inga speaking in Sámi) (Laila speaking in Sámi) [gentle somber music] ♪ (Inga sighs worriedly) ♪ (fire crackling) [soft reflective music] ♪ (birds cawing) ♪ (Inga speaking in Sámi) [soft thoughtful music] ♪ (wind blowing) [gentle thoughtful music] ♪ (restless breathing) ♪ (scratchy clothing sounds) ♪ (scratchy clothing sounds) ♪ (footsteps clattering softly) (skis crunching snow) ♪ (fierce wind whipping) (footsteps crunching snow) (door creaks) (exhales heavily) (door thuds) [dark tense music] (footsteps shuffling) ♪ (fabric stretching) ♪ [dark foreboding music] ♪ (clacking sounds) [ominous eerie music] ♪ (door clattering) (door thuds) (heavy sigh) [heavy tense music] ♪ (coins clacking softly) ♪ (shaky breathing) [low foreboding music] (door clatters) ♪ (fasteners flicking) ♪ [intense ominous music] (entities whispering) ♪ [dark eerie music] ♪ (hooves galloping) (wind whipping) (rope whipping sounds) ♪ - [Inga] Laila!

(Inga speaking Sámi) ♪ (Inga speaking in Sámi) (fierce wind whipping) (proud sigh) (Inga speaking in Sámi) (wind whipping) (broach clattering) - [Inga] Yeah.

♪ (Laila speaks in Sámi) (whispers in Sámi) ("hears" Laila humming musically) ("hears" Laila humming musically) (Inga groans) (Inga groaning) [tense ominous music] ♪ (Laila humming) [tense ominous music] ♪ (heaves) (wet sloshing sounds) ♪ (Laila humming) (heaving/wet sloshing sounds) ♪ (spitting/sloshing) (Laila humming) (spitting/sloshing) (breathing heavily/gasping) [dark ominous music] (gasping) (Laila sings in Sámi) (Laila sings in Sámi) (Laila and entities humming) [intense dark music] (Inga gasps) (sighs) (unsettled breathing) ♪ (rope snapping) (people chattering indistinctly) (group chattering) (Inga sighs) [soft organ music] (Inga speaks in Sámi) ♪ (Inga speaking in Sámi) (people chattering) (bird cawing) ♪ (moaning) (group chattering) (sighs) (group chattering) [soft moody music] ♪ (Laila speaking in Sámi) (soft groaning) [tense music] ♪ (Laila vocalizing musically) [swirling ominous music] (Laila singing in Sámi) [swirling music] ♪ (Inga grunting) [suspenseful music] (Inga grunting) (Inga shouting) (Inga shouting) ♪ (Inga shouting) ♪ [tense bewildering music] ♪ (reindeer snorts) (bird cawing) (breathing heavily) (bird cawing) (distressed breathing) (spits) (shaky breathing) (soft moaning) (shaky breathing) (grunts) (shredding sounds) (tired groaning) (hooves thumping) (Inga groaning) (groans/gasps) [intense ominous music] ♪ (Inga groans loudly) [tense ominous music] ♪ (shudders/groans) ♪ (painful groaning) ♪ (gasping) (groaning) ♪ (painful groans) [ominous music] (shudders/groans) (wet sloshing sounds) (gasping) (cries/gasps) (Inga speaking in Sámi) (sobs/gasps) (cries/shudders) (loud cry) [ominous suspenseful music] (entities whispering) ♪ [slow rising tense music] ♪ ♪ [tense keyboard/string music] ♪ [music fades] (Ariel humming film's music) (Bird laughs) - [Bird] I don't think you should do that!

- [Ariel] That's terrifying!

(Bird laughs) It was scary.

I don't know how I feel right now other than that kids terrify me.

- It's spooky and haunting.

Like I said, right?

- Yeah.

Very, very scary.

Well done, though.

Oh, my God.

A lot goin' on there.

- Yeah.

Well, I imagine that there must be like, you know, some deep kind of cultural context, right?

According to messing with the dead, and maybe possession, or, you know?

And, we do know that Biru means devil, right?

- Okay.

- So, it's an unborn devil.

- Devil.

- And then, the woman is like pregnant, but it's not a baby, and there's stuff.

- And, there's hair, and that silver thing.

- Yeah.

- And then, there is-?

Yeah!

It seems like there's probably a lot of symbolism in there.

- Yeah.

But, you know, I think stylistically, you know, it's kind of dark, too.

Like, there's not much light.

A lot of dark interiors, and dark nights and everything's dark.

- Yeah, except the snow.

- I imagine it must've been winter, right?

- Yeah.

Well?

They looked freezing.

- Dark most of the time.

- Like, it looks cold.

I mean, it made me, like-?

It didn't make me homesick for home.

I like being warm, but they looked really cold.

The special effects person and the person that did the makeup?

Good job.

Was it-?

Do you know who it was?

- Dan Erik Heggelund.

- Dan Erik?

Yeah, yeah.

Good work on that.

That'd be so hard to do; special effects in cold.

- Well?

And stunts, as well.

The lady gets dragged by the reindeer.

- Yeah.

- Or, the caribou?

Which one was it?

- No, it was a reindeer.

So, the reindeer actually is a domesticated caribou.

Fun fact!

- Okay.

- Yeah.

Rudolph?

Those guys?

They're all just domesticated caribou.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- Well?

Interestingly, you mentioned Rudolph.

So?

Like, I do know having been to Sápmi and visited the ancestral lands of the Sámi people, that the story of Santa Claus actually comes from one of their old stories.

- Okay.

- From when-- like, they have a story going way back to ancient times that if children were bad that, like, a being or somebody would come down the chimney or something?

And so, over the years, it just kind of got morphed into Santa Claus coming down- - Telephone effect.

- The chimney and stuff, and so.

And, I've even seen some of the clothing that some of the Sámi wear.

So interesting.

They eat reindeer.

They make clothing out of the reindeer hides.

I remember when we were at the Berlin Film Festival, one of the Sámi women, 'cause it was so cold, was wearing this beautiful dress made of reindeer skins.

It was super warm.

She was actually really hot when we were inside.

- Oh yeah, I bet!

Those things are-- that we wear them at home, and they definitely keep you warm.

- Yeah.

- Oh, that's awesome.

Well?

Even if you look at the girl's shoes in the film, it was like they had that little elfish- - Yes!

- tip.

- Yep.

It's a Sámi moccasin.

- Yeah!

And, it's very similar to Inuits in Alaska.

Like, we have the little-- we call 'em "malagg'aayaqs", with the little hats?

They have the "mukluks" but they don't have the elfish tip.

So, very similar.

Everyone's just trying to stay warm.

- Well, I do know that our filmmaker here, the director, was really about-- she said something interesting in her Sundance Festival interview where she said, "I can't change the past," you know, but that she's really wanting to kind of show their world, their lives as it had been, you know, kind of historically.

- Yeah.

- But also, kind of wove it together through.

I think it makes it a lot very accessible with the horror genre themes, you know?

Because you're guessing, you're watching, you're waiting.

You know, you're studying.

- Yeah.

- It's a really good job, I feel like.

- And, the hardship too.

I mean, it is like harsh living growing up in the Arctic.

It's cold.

It's dark.

There's, like, a lot of storytelling.

A lot-- it is like hard living, but it's also-- I mean, there's a lot of beauty to it, too.

- Survival.

- Survival.

- Yeah.

And, I wanted to also mention the thing about the singing.

I do remember that they call that type of singing that the little kid is doing like yoiking, or "to yoik."

- Oh.

- And, it's a very kind of like melodic, kind of like-?

Almost like a throat singing.

- Another similarity between the Inuits and the people in that region.

- That was a great film.

- Yeah, I'm gonna- (chair clacks) - More horror, please.

- Oh, take a breath!

Relax.

Oh man, that makes me tense!

Did you realize how, like, tight your shoulders are?

- Mm hm.

- Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Go get a massage.

I'm going to!

But, yes.

Until next time, thank you guys for watching.

[bold drumming music] ♪ - [Ariel] Today, I wore a dress by Choke Cherry Creek, earrings by Moth to a Flame, and rings by Milford Calamity.

- [Bird] And today, I'm wearing a cuff by Virgil Ortiz, and a ring by Cody Sanderson.

Boom.

- Boom.

♪ - [Announcer] This series was created in partnership with the Sundance Institute.

More information at sundance.org Funding for "Native Shorts" was made possible by a generous grant from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and from viewers like you.