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, directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp, The Boys of Baraka) examine humans on the cusp of adulthood, finding themselves at the edge of the world.
Folktales
ICON GUIDE
OCOpen Caption screening
Additional program content
35mm
SFSensory Friendly. Details HERE
Folktales
Tickets: $11 (members), $16 (nonmembers)
"...we are treated to all the joys and pains of 10 transformative months, with Ewing and Grady taking us inside an experience that’s both specific and oddly universal."
"Folktales never tries to impose grand stakes on the proceedings. Instead, Ewing and Grady want to leave viewers with a heartwarming message about the capacity of people to discover their true selves."
PAST EVENTS
Q&A with filmmaker Heidi Ewing moderated by Variety writer Addie Morfoot
Monday, Jul. 28 2025, 7:15
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- 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.
- Addie Morfoot has been covering the entertainment industry for the last 18 years. She currently serves as head of editorial coverage for Variety's Docs section. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, The LA Times, Crain's New York Business, Documentary Magazine, and Adweek. Her personal essays have been published in The New York Times, Marie Claire, Salon, Cosmopolitan.com, Brain, Child, The LA Times, and The New York Press.
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