Elle Sofe Sara

1984
Choreographer & director
Guovdageaidnu

Elle Sofe Sara is a choreographer, director and filmmaker. She is Unit-Ántte Rávnná and Heik-Erke Niillasa youngest from the small village Ávži in Guovdageaidnu. Her work expands upon seemingly mundane, often overlooked areas of Sámi physicality—unspoken rituals that have escaped the vice grip of colonialism. Elle Sofe uncovers a space in which the past and the present coincide.

The answer is Land 3 Photo Antero Hein — *Vástádus eana/The answer is land.* Photo: Antero Hein

While her choreography is known for its playful approach, she also delves into taboo subjects such as trauma, abuse, and suicide. As an Indigenous artist, Elle Sofe seeks to create work that resonates as strongly for her community as it does for the art world.

1 CB Birget 2023 Haara 187 A5167 — *BIRGET; Ways to heal ways to deal.* Photo: Haara/Carte Blanche

Beatnaga Dont judge the dog Photo Matti Aikio — *Beatnaga ii galgga gulgii geahččat/Dont judge the dog.* Photo: Matti Aikio

2 Sámi Bojá Foto Niels Ovllá Dunfjell — Photo: Niels Ovllá Dunfjell

Sami boja 1 Niels Ovlla Dunfjell — Photo: Niels Ovllá Dunfjell

Hailing from Guovdageaidnu, Norway, Elle Sofe holds an MA in choreography from the Oslo Academy of Arts (2010) and studied dance at the LabanTrinity school, London.

She is the featured artist of the True Northern Arts Festival in Harstad (2020, 2021), winner of the Moon Jury Award at the Imagine Native Film Festival (2019) and one of four artists selected for Talent Norway’s emerging filmmakers program (2020-2023).

When she is not working with choreography or film, or traveling for work, Elle Sofe can be found marking reindeer calves with her children or reading animal tracks in the snow.

Get to know Elle Sofe Sara through this filmportrait.

Excert from the performance Vástádus eana/The answer is land.

Birget; ways to deal, ways to heal, 2023.

In 2025, Elle Sofe produced the joik-ballet Láhppon / Lost, with a premiere at Den Norske Opera and Ballett in Oslo. This was the first time that a Sami ballet was performed on their main stage. The topic in the play was the riots in Guovdageaidnu in 1852, and the story was told by joik and ballet.

Early 2026 was the premiere of her first feature film, Árru. It had its premiere at the Berlinale film festival in Germany. This was Elle Sofe's first feature length film, which told the story of Maia - a reindeer herder who joins the fight against the destruction of a reindeer pasture. Using joik is as a way of telling the story, this film is also called a joik-musical.