Brace Your Heart Brings Young Reindeer Herder's Story to Festival Circuit
A 20-year-old reindeer herder trying to hold her work and family life together is at the centre of Brace Your Heart, the third feature from Swedish writer-director Amanda Kernell. Variety published its review of the film on 23 September.
Kernell belongs to the Sámi community, the Indigenous people of northernmost Europe. She was born in Umeå in 1986, according to the San Sebastian festival, and her earlier features traced a clear path to this story.
Her debut was Sámi Blood in 2016, which focused on the Sámi community. Her second feature was Charter in 2020.
Brace Your Heart stays in the present day. It follows Ejva, played by Elli Sara Valkeapää, who is herself a reindeer herder outside of acting.
Andte Gaup-Juuso plays Heaika and Vincent Niia plays Nejla. Sophia Olsson served as director of photography, and Kernell wrote the original screenplay.
The wider cast is made up of real reindeer herders, according to sales company TrustNordisk. That choice puts lived experience on screen rather than relying only on trained actors.
In its original language the title is Garrat Du Váimmu. The dialogue is in Northern Sami and Swedish, and the film runs 97 minutes.
It is a co-production between Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Bulgaria. TrustNordisk boarded the project to handle international sales, as reported by Variety in February 2025.
The film had its world premiere in the Platform section at the Toronto International Film Festival, which ran from 10 to 20 September. Platform is Toronto's competitive strand for films with a strong directorial point of view. It received a special mention from the jury there.
Its European premiere followed in the main competition at San Sebastian. Festivals often work this way, with a North American launch followed quickly by a European bow.
What makes this stand out for general audiences is the world it shows. Reindeer herding is work, culture and livelihood in Sápmi, the Sámi homeland across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Kernell has said the story explores forgiveness, and the production draws on traditional Sámi values.
