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FOLKTALES

  • 2025
  • 1 HR, 46 min
  • AUG 1 → AUG 7, 2025
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Details
Released July 25, 2025, United States, Norway
Documentary
1 hour, 46 minutes
Magnolia Pictures
English and Norwegian with English Subtitles
Starring

No starring credits.

Director

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady

Film Information

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 ffate 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 Stills

Additional Credits
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady Director

Reviews

“It’s beautiful to watch humanity’s best friends alleviate modern coming-of-age anxieties in troubled teens. The chilly Arctic climes make for an especially illuminating backdrop.”

Peter Howell
Toronto Star

“Not everything turns out the way we expect, not every story has a tidy ending, but no one ever said becoming a new self was easy or expected. Folk high school? It helps. And, yes, I’d still like to go.”

Kate Erbland
IndieWire

“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.”

Tim Grierson
Screen International

“A warm and big-hearted crowdpleaser set against a cold and seemingly inhospitable backdrop.”

Daniel Fienberg
The Hollywood Reporter

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