After showcasing two of her documentaries last year, Spectacle is proud to host the New York City premiere of iara lee’s latest feature, THE SAMI SONG OF SURVIVAL. Throughout her prolific career as a cultural film essayist, iara lee intentionally sought out Indigenous voices in political peril. Inspired by her 2010 documentary and participation in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, iara lee established the Cultures of Resistance Network to raise awareness of folks on the margins and the art they create. With lee’s latest, THE SAMI SONG OF SURVIVAL, we’re witnesses to the Sami people, an Indigenous group based in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Undergoing constant oppression against imperial forces and racist colonialism, with one Sami man in particular hypothesizing, “Art could be a weapon”. A motivating mantra that sums up the essence of iara lee’s filmmaking ethos, Spectacle Theater will be screening this alongside two power-defying docs: K2 & THE INVISIBLE FOOTMEN and STALKING CHERNOBYL.
PROCEEDS OF BOX OFFICE WILL GO TOWARDS THE GAZA MUTUAL AID COLLECTIVE
K2 & THE INVISIBLE FOOTMEN
dir. iara lee, 2015
United States, 54 min.
In English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Urdu with English Subtitles
MONDAY, AUGUST 3 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14 – 5 PM
TUESDAY, AUGUST 18 – 10 PM
As a brief reprieve from making strictly activist-driven documentaries, iara lee would center a piece on one of the biggest mountains in the world, K2, and the climbers and porters who endure its brutality. With its location on the border of Pakistan, excursions up the colloquially named “Savage Mountain” are reliant on the hard work of indigenous mountaineers who dedicate their lives to mapping out and understanding the volatile nature of this peak.
Breathtaking cinematography is guaranteed, but where Iara Lee’s essential humanistic bent is felt through highlighting everyday Pakistani life, a banal but necessary observation in a culture where folk in Kashmir are usually portrayed surviving under times of war and/or alleged religious persecution.
STALKING CHERNOBYL
dir. iara lee, 2020
Brazil, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Ukraine, United States, 58 min.
In Russian with English Subtitles
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6 – 10 PM
MONDAY, AUGUST 10 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22 – 3 PM
Exploration after apocalypse
A striking, bite-sized expose on the intersection of dark tourism, historical conservation and extreme cinephilia, STALKING CHERNOBYL chronicles those with the bravado to traverse the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, often illegally, in a manner that evokes Tarkovsky’s beloved sci-fi epic STALKER. Some do this from explicit inspiration from the movie, others have no idea of the film or the book it’s based on, and are simply in it for the thrill of parkour extreme sports.
iara lee sequences these diverse groups of adventures with equal precision, all while ensuring the camera instills that even with all the danger in mind, a hobby of this wild nature is worth the risk.
THE SAMI SONG OF SURVIVAL
dir. iara lee, 2025
Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, United States, 49 min.
In English, Northern Sami, Norwegian and Russian with English Subtitles
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 – 5 PM
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13 – 10 PM
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25 – 10 PM
Indigenous Activism on the Northern Frontier
iara lee’s newest feature focuses on an under-the-radar Indigenous group found in Russia and Lapland, the Sami people. With a long lineage of resisting colonial adversaries, lee uses her own experience of demonstrating art as a means of asserting independence. With various examples from hip-hop to traditional folk music to the annals of work displayed in the Sami Centre for Contemporary Art, THE SAMI SONG OF SURVIVAL rings loud and true for all those looking to vent over the growing fascist evil empires through art and song.
Special thanks to Carlos Pina and the Cultures of Resistance Network