An intimate exploration of craft practice as a portal to a sense of belonging.
Her Inherent Belonging is a character-driven documentary exploring how craft as a practice connects humans to place, their ancestral past and the moment in time in which they find themselves. Feeling a strong sense of belonging reminds us of our interdependence with each other and the natural world. When we are rooted in this feeling of belonging, we are more able to contribute to creating a future that serves the whole.
By following the lives of three Finnish craftswomen from the quiet darkness of Finland’s long winter into the midnight sun of summer, Her Inherent Belonging will transport audiences into the intimacy of their studios and into their creative practices that are informed by the natural world around them and their ancestral past. Thoughtful, cinematic, and rooted in character, Her Inherent Belonging is an ode to the interconnection between people, craft and place - a way of being eloquently embodied in Finland.
Why Craft?
Living cultural heritage is a resource that binds people together. In our interdependent world, it is also one of the most powerful resources we have to transform our communities and innovate. Our cultural diversity and creativity expressed through the world’s artists, creators and makers helps shift our collective perspective, renew ideas and respond to global challenges.
In a modern global system that increasingly values convenience and cost over cultural heritage and the handmade, many traditional ways of life are threatened and their opportunities to evolve are limited. People are forced to leave rural areas and traditional livelihoods to seek economic opportunities in urban areas, disconnecting from their ancestral ways of life. Without mindful intention to actively preserve and keep craft traditions relevant, they will not exist for future generations. Therefore, elevating the status of craft through building awareness, encouraging innovation of traditional practices and creating economic opportunities for its sale, will ensure craft’s sustainability for the future. Her Inherent Belonging aims to illustrate the vitality of traditional craft, that is so evident in Finland, to help audiences remember the value of preserving place-specific cultural and natural heritage for future generations.
Why Finland?
In Finland, craft culture plays a critical role in expressing Finnish identity and connection to place or “sense of place.” Craft is a living discipline. Although it is deeply rooted in tradition, history and place, it also expresses lived experiences: ”it can be a window through which we see how communities and individual makers shape and express nuanced systems of identity, gender, class, power, belief, economics and creativity.” Sense of place can be defined as “…people’s attachment to, identification with, and dependance on places, and has been used to describe connections with, and perceptions of environments affecting human behavior and attitudes towards its management.” Due to the role craft and nature play in shaping Finnish identity, Finland’s national policies and education system prioritize cultural preservation and environmental conservation. Finland can be seen as a model for the rest of world for how to preserve both natural and cultural heritage.
Story & Structure
The film follows the lives of three Finnish craftswomen from winter to the transition to summer. Through each of their practices, the film explores a different aspect of belonging: To Place, To Time (Past & Future), To Now (The Present Moment). The film weaves their subtly-connected stories together by underscoring themes of resiliency, wholehearted dedication and courage.
Hanna Nore, Master Tanner
Mervi Pasanan, Expert in Iron Age Crafts
Hanna P., Master Shoemaker
