Young Reindeer Herders

Above the Arctic Circle, in the wide snowfields of Finnish Lapland, four people in their twenties are choosing a life that most of their generation has left behind. Sunna, Viola, Aleksi, and Eero are reindeer herders, and over the course of a year, director Laura Satimus follows them with an observational eye and considerable warmth.

The work is hard, the temperatures brutal, and the pay poor. They know this. They do it anyway.

Across eight episodes, the series moves through the full seasonal rhythm of herding life, from the autumn roundups to the first calf births of spring, while also catching the four in their quieter, more personal moments: nights out in Levi, snowmobile expos, the ordinary friction of relationships and responsibilities pulling in different directions.

What the series offers is not a portrait of a dying tradition but a close look at the people actively keeping it alive, and at what that costs them. The four subjects carry their own distinct personalities and pressures, giving the series a human specificity that lifts it well beyond the picturesque. Produced by Yle, Young Reindeer Herders is a grounded and quietly affecting portrait of identity, belonging, and the choice to stay.