On July 16, see the acclaimed new documentary Folktales followed by a film talk by Oscar®-nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady! In this life-affirming masterpiece, teenagers converge at a traditional folk high school in Arctic Norway where they must rely on only themselves, one another, and a loyal pack of sled dogs as they all grow in unexpected directions. The film will be opening theatrically at IFC on July 25.
In Norse mythology, the three “Norns” are powerful deities who weave the threads of fate and shape humans’ futures. Today, Pasvik Folk High School in northern Norway aims to produce a similar life-changing effect on its students. Folktales tells the timely and heartwarming story of teenagers who choose to spend an unconventional “gap year” learning to dog sled and survive the Arctic wilderness, in hopes of finding connection and meaning in the modern world. Guided by patient teachers and a yard full of heroic Alaskan huskies, they discover their own potential and develop deep relationships with the land, animals and humans around them. Through intimate verité storytelling and exhilarating cinematography, Ewing and Grady examine humans on the cusp of adulthood, finding themselves at the edge of the world.
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady are the co-directors of Jesus Camp (Academy Award nominee), The Boys of Baraka (Emmy nominee), 12th & Delaware (Peabody Award winner), DETROPIA (Emmy winner), Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, One of Us, Love Fraud, and Endangered. They are the co-owners of Brooklyn-based production company Loki Films.
Photo by Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo