A film by Suvi West & Anssi Kömi
Wednesday 29 October 2025
7pm

Máhccan – Homecoming (2023), 1h 16min

The film is set in the museum world in a turning point, where the national museums have to deal with their colonial history. The National Museum of Finland returned thousands of everyday objects taken from the indigenous Sámi people back to them. Filmmaker Suvi West takes the audience behind the scenes revealing a visual, philosophical, and spiritual realm. She seeks a connection with ancestors through old museum objects, eventually arriving at the collective pain points of the Sámi people. West asks whether the returning objects can help a fractured nation cope with past sorrows.

How can one hear the voice of ancestors, who traditionally have aided the Sámi people in navigating life? And how can one confront a sacred drum that has been violently taken, traditionally considered inappropriate to photograph or touch, as it belongs only to its owner?

As the dream-like journey progresses, she delves deeper into the bloody past of the Sámi people and the realm of unresolved sorrows. The effects of historical events are felt and become visible in the present moment. Simultaneously, West asks how forgiveness can be given? How can the damage caused by outsiders be repaired so that collective pains can finally be left behind?

Máhccan – Homecoming is screened in conjunction to our current exhibition niilas helander: If I am the lake you take your face from.