Lost Paradise

The Nenets trilogy’s second part juxtaposes the histories of two indigenous nations: Nenets herders and Sayisi Dene of Northern Canada: “What is happening to the Nenets in Siberia now has happened already to the Indians of Manitoba, who lost their traditional ways of existence,” according to the director. The film opens with Lucas Cranach’s painting of Paradise, thus returning to the central motif of Lehmuskallio and Lapsui’s work: reflecting about a disappearing way of life. The film provides a more detailed context in comparison to the purely contemplative first chapter of the saga.