Folktales

The documentary Folktales follows three teenagers who choose to spend an unconventional gap year at Pasvik Folk High School in the Arctic north of Norway. In Norse mythology, the Norns weave the threads of fate, but at this school, young people learn to shape their own destiny. 

Away from the hustle and bustle of modern society, the students, including Romain Le Biannic from Groningen, learn to survive in the wilderness. Under the guidance of patient teachers and a loyal pack of huskies, the group develops various survival skills over a period of nine months, while exciting cinematography captures how their connection with the landscape and with each other continues to develop. Through the collective challenges of life above the Arctic Circle, the young people discover their own abilities and find a new direction in life on the threshold of adulthood.

Folktales premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year and was subsequently screened at DC/DOX in Washington, DC, among other venues. Directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady have been making films together for two decades and were even nominated for an Oscar in 2007 for their documentary Jesus Camp.