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 opens for a full run on Friday, Aug. 1.
