“FOLKTALES” Captures Students Surviving and Thriving in Arctic Norway

By Jessica Herndon

Filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s history at the Sundance Film Festival runs deep. 2010 marked the first year they premiered a film at the Fest, and they have since debuted many projects with us in Park City. This year they return with FOLKTALES, a visually arresting and deeply moving documentary debuting in the Premieres section. 

Set against the sweeping, snow-laden landscapes of Arctic Norway, the film follows a group of teenagers embarking on a transformative year at Pasvik Folk High School, a traditional folk school that strips away the distractions of modern life in favor of simplicity, self-discovery, and survival skills.

When listening to the last 30 seconds of a podcast a few years ago, Ewing was surprised to hear dogsledder Blair Braverman say that while sledding, dogs could leave you for dead if they don’t trust you. Ewing wanted more details, so she bought Braverman’s book Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North. As she’d hoped, she learned more about dog sledding — but what she didn’t expect to discover was that Braverman had gone to what’s known as a folk high school. Intrigued, Ewing researched if this type of school still existed and learned there are over 400 folk schools in Scandinavia alone. After visiting five of the schools, she and co-director Grady decided to focus on one.  

At the heart of FOLKTALES is a journey of resilience, growth, and connection. “We were interested in coming-of-age, how to become brave, what does it take to step into adulthood with grace and dignity, and without fear,” says Ewing following a standing ovation from the audience after the January 25 premiere of her documentary at the Library Center Theatre in Park City. Adds Grady, “At its heart, it’s a story about the cycle of life. Things come and go, but there is always something that stays consistent, which is: We all grow older.”

Drawing inspiration from Norse mythology, Ewing and Grady frame the students’ experiences through the lens of Odin’s mythological observation of the Norns — three wise women (similar to the Fates of Greek and Roman mythology) spinning the threads of destiny. The film weaves together the lives of these young people as they navigate the challenges and rewards of Arctic life, from caring for a pack of loyal Siberian huskies — believed to unlock a person’s true self — to enduring the unforgiving cold, the teens confront their fears and insecurities head-on.

For Hege Birch Wik, one of the students, the school represents an escape. After the tragic loss of her father, she seeks solace in the wilderness, grappling with the relentless pressures of youth and the unrelenting scrutiny of social media. At the premiere, Hege speaks about Ewing and Grady’s filmmaking techniques. “At first it was really weird. I’m not used to two ladies running after me,” she says, making the crowd laugh. “But after a while they are like your friends, so you want to be around them. Also they never pushed me if I didn’t want to talk about something. They could also read if it was too early to talk about something. In the first interview we just talked briefly and the more we got to know each other, the more comfortable we felt and then we could talk more about the deep stuff. They were very great.”

Through breathtaking cinematography and an emotionally resonant narrative, FOLKTALES captures the essence of youthful longing and the search for identity in an increasingly chaotic world. “Heidi and Rachel, thank you,” says Thor-Atle Svortevik, a dogsledding teacher at Pasvik Folk High School who joins the filmmakers for the Q&A. “What you’ve done here, what you have been able to show, is the heart of Folk High School in Norway.”