Folktales

In the far north of Norway, more than 300 km above the Arctic Circle, there is a special school: Pasvik Folk High School. After completing their regular final exams, teenagers can spend their “gap year” here. The school timetable does not include classroom lessons, there is no learning from books, and laptops remain closed. At this school, survival in the Arctic wilderness is central; here you learn how to handle dog sleds and how to hunt. Essentially, you learn how to rely on yourself, each other and, last but not least, the huskies in harsh conditions. These are important lessons, because the young people here often lack self-confidence.

In this documentary, filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady focus on three of them: Hege, who is still struggling with the death of her father; the insecure Bjørn, who has no friends; and the socially anxious Romain from the Netherlands, who has a very negative self-image. Ewing and Grady show how perseverance, self-reliance and, above all, kindness give meaning and direction to the lives of these young people.