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Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, USA, Norway 2025
Two New York co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, walk into “a frozen, enchanted forest with an intrepid band of Norwegian filmmakers” to film a group of teenagers who take a yearlong break from their studies to learn the art of dog sledding in FOLKTALES.
Ewing and Grady explain that for nearly two centuries, Scandinavian folk high schools have given students an experience to understand the power of nature, its simplicity, and the value of community. Over time the process proves to bring about a positive transformation that ultimately guides one’s destiny while still in the formative years of life.
Ewing heard about these schools when listening to a podcast about a dog sledder who had attended a folk high school at the age of seventeen. Ewing was told, “Throughout Scandinavia there are more than 400 special schools for different things from: circus arts, design, living like a Viking, to Arctic wilderness.” Curious as to how a teenager in today’s world would fare during a year learning something foreign to them and putting aside social media platforms that would typically eat up hours of their day, the opportunity to film such a group was compelling.
Ewing and Grady found what they were looking for at the Pasvik Folk High School in northern Norway, located over 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Impressed with the dedication of the dogsledding teachers, Thor-Atle and Iselin, with careful attention to their dogs (Alaskan huskies) and toward the students they accept, while they promote a simple mission—to quiet the chaos of modern life and grow in self-confidence, self-reliance, patience, and kindness. Iselin tells her students, “We hope we can wake up your Stone Age brain.”
FOLKTALES allows the audience to journey with Ewing, Grady, and their magnificent Norwegian film crew to observe teenagers being challenged and then discovering their own potential to develop deep relationships with the land, animals, and people. A narrative that is food for thought on so many levels.
