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Jumalan morsian

A Bride of the Seventh Heaven
NATIVe - Indigenous Cinema 2017
© Johannes Lehmuskallio
At birth, Syarda was promised as a bride to Num, the highest god of the Nenets. It was an isolating fate, as men were afraid to approach her and when her parents passed away, her loneliness deepened. Wistfulness became a normal part of her life, but she did not abstain from seizing any opportunity that arose. The ever-present specter of Num and her self-determined ways kept her to the predestined forlorn path. Now an elderly lady, Syarda recounts the story of her life to a blind young girl who alleviates her solitude. Set in the stark scenery of the Yamal peninsula, in a melancholic yet brightly-hued aura, Anastasia Lapsui and Markku Lehmuskallio bring forth a personal narrative that engages with emotional matters from within this culture. A story connected to Anastasia’s own experience as a young woman, growing up in the spiritual world of the Nenets on the Yamal peninsula.

Trailer/Film Excerpt

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by Anastasia Lapsui (Director), Markku Lehmuskallio (Director)
with Angelina Saraleta, Viktoria Hudi, Ljuba Filipova, Jevgeni Hudi Finland 2003 Nenets 85' Colour

With

  • Angelina Saraleta
  • Viktoria Hudi
  • Ljuba Filipova
  • Jevgeni Hudi

Crew

Directors Anastasia Lapsui, Markku Lehmuskallio
Cinematography Johannes Lehmuskallio
Producer Kristiina Pervilä

Produced by

Millenium Film

Nurmes, Finland

Photos

Anastasia Lapsui

Born in 1944 on the Yamal Peninsula, she has been working with Markku Lehmuskallio since the 1990s. While their initial focus was on documentary film, they have since developed an interest in film-making that dramatises legends and draws on Anastasia’s own experience growing up, with a particular focus on the Nenets. They already screened Seven Songs from the Tundra and A Bride of the Seventh Heaven at Forum and NATIVe.

Filmography

2000 Seitsemän laulua tundralta (Seven Songs from the Tundra) 2002 Elämän äidit (Mothers of Life) 2003 Jumalan morsian (A Bride of the Seventh Heaven) 2005 Fata Morgana 2010 Sukunsa viimeinen (Pudana – Last of the Line)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018

Markku Lehmuskallio

Born in 1938 in Finland. His film Korpinpolska was screened at the 1980 Berlinale at Competition. In 1983 he presented Skierri – Land of the Dwarf Birk at Panorama. Since the 1990s he has been working together with Anastasia Lapsui. After several appearances at Forum, in 2010 they presented Pudana – Last of the Line, their first film in Generation.

Filmography

2000 Seitsemän laulua tundralta (Seven Songs from the Tundra) 2002 Elämän äidit (Mothers of Life) 2003 Jumalan morsian (A Bride of the Seventh Heaven) 2005 Fata Morgana 2010 Sukunsa viimeinen (Pudana – Last of the Line)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018