CPH:DOX 2026: Let Our Mountains Live (dir. Håvard Bustnes) | Review
Up close with the Sámi people—whose rights are being undermined by Europe’s largest wind farm project in Norway—filmmaker Håvard Bustnes delivers a powerful documentary at the heart of a struggle for the recognition of their land, their heritage, and their rights.
“Let the mountains live!” This is the heartfelt cry of the young Sámi people protesting in front of the Ministry of Energy in Oslo, Norway, outraged by the state’s inaction regarding the Fosen wind farm. The farm, inaugurated in 2021, was erected on lands that have served as ancestral winter grazing grounds for reindeer herding in this coastal region, thereby threatening their survival. Yet, more than two years after the Supreme Court concluded that the fundamental rights of the Fosen inhabitants had been violated, the turbines continue to operate.
In Let Our Mountains Live, Norwegian director Håvard Bustnes accurately documents the struggle led by reindeer herders against the destruction of ancestral grazing lands and denounces the State’s appropriation of indigenous lands to exploit natural resources. The feature-length documentary had its world premiere at CPH:DOX 2026 in the NORDIC:DOX section.
The film opens with the blasts of explosives used to clear access roads to the wind farm site, sent soaring in spectacular plumes of rock. This introduction scene is followed by a rhythmic choreography of aerial shots showing the construction of the site, interspersed with visuals of reindeer in their natural habitat. The tone is set from the start. The film continues with footage captured during the trial of the young protesters and the mediation between the Fosen herders’ representatives and the Norwegian state. Several powerful scenes bear witness to the historical suffering of the Sámi people, whose fundamental rights continue to be flouted today. Archival images complement the protagonists’ statements and emphasize the stalemate in the conflict that has pitted the Fosen herders against the authorities for more than fifteen years.
Let Our Mountains Live, which follows in the continuity of the Norwegian director’s documentary work, shares common ground with the powerful documentary film by Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, and Michael Toledano, Yintah, which documents a similar power struggle in British Columbia, Canada. While presenting a conflict centered on a specific territory, both films reveal a larger national dysfunction, denoting a lack of understanding and a deep contempt for the culture, needs, and fundamental rights of indigenous peoples.
CPH:DOX is currently taking place in Copenhagen from March 11 to 22, 2026.
