A Swedish Sámi screenwriter and director.

LISELOTTE WAJSTEDT Liselotte Wajstedt, born 1973 in Kiruna, lives and works in Stockholm, mainly as a director and screenwriter. She also work with art installations including visual art. In her extensive work with experimental moving images, she explores both aesthetics and politics with recurring themes such as heritage, abuse and identity.

Born on September 15, 1973, in the Jukkasjärvi parish of Kiruna, she is a Swedish Northern Sámi film director and artist, primarily known for her documentary films. Her documentary The Silence of Sápmi, which aired on Swedish television, was nominated for the Human Award.

She grew up in Kiruna and has been engaged in artistic and creative activities since her early teens. She is the daughter of artist Jan Veišteit and has Sámi cultural roots through her mother, who resides in Nedre Soppero. In 1991, at the age of 17, she dropped out of high school to pursue a career as an artist and left Kiruna. After moving to southern Sweden, she studied at several independent art schools, later studying film at Gotland University and fine arts at the Royal Institute of Art.

In 2007, she released her first feature-length documentary, Sami Nieida Jojk. Described as a “Sámi-language road movie,” the film blends documentary storytelling with imaginative animation and music editing. It explores Sámi identity and questions who has the right to call themselves Sámi, while also following her personal journey in search of her lost Sámi identity. The documentary aired on Swedish Television (SVT) and Folkets Bio.

Her next feature-length documentary, Kiruna – Rymdvagen (2013), focused on the ongoing urban destruction in Kiruna. The film takes place in her childhood home in the Ullspiran district—one of the LKAB-owned buildings scheduled for demolition. Using a film camera, she captures memorable places and events in the city, raising questions about what will happen to Kiruna as the demolition progresses.

She is a cousin of Sámi writer Ann-Helén Laestadius and currently resides in Stockholm.