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Folktales

Folktales

Folktales

Dir. Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
106 min

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MSPIFF44 Special Jury Award Winner!

ABOUT THE FILM

In Oscar®-nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s life-affirming film, 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.

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.

Film Details

Program: New Releases
Film Type: Documentary Feature
Release Year: 2025
Runtime: 106 min
Country/Region: USA, Norway
Language: English, Norwegian
Print Source: Magnolia Pictures
Tags: Coming-of-Age, Documentary, Women Directors, Youth

Cast/Crew

Director: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
Producer: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady, Kelsey Koenig
Cinematographer: Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo
Editor: Nathan Punwar
Composer: T. Griffin