‘Folktales’: Sundance Review

Dirs: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. US/Norway. 2025. 106mins

The crowd-pleasing documentary Folktales takes audiences to a rural Norwegian folk high school that offers a gap year to teenagers pining for something that conventional schooling isn’t providing — which turns out to be a connection with their untamed side. As usual, directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (12th & Delaware, One Of Us) pay close attention to their sensitive subjects, but the film also spends ample time photographing this magical, snowy environment — not to mention the exciting dog-sledding in which the students participate.

An attractive big-screen proposition

Folktales is the fifth project from the directing duo to premiere at Sundance — in addition, Ewing’s 2020 narrative feature debut, I Carry You With Me, also played at the festival — and their latest should appeal to dog lovers, fans of the great outdoors, and audiences craving inspirational stories. The fetching imagery of northern Norway should make this an attractive big-screen proposition for buyers in the market for a tear-jerking, feel-good film.

The documentary tracks one school year at Norway’s rustic Pasvik Folk High School, focusing on three students, all 18 or 19 years-old, who each in his or her own way is struggling at traditional school. Hege is mourning the recent murder of her father, while Bjorn Tore fears that his outgoing personality is annoying, and the reason why he has no friends. The withdrawn Romain also has a tough time bonding with classmates, although he hits it off with Bjorn Tore once they meet at Pasvik. During the school year, the students experience an unconventional, nature-centric education in which they learn survival skills and dog training, ending with an epic dogsled run.

The recent Boys State and Girls State took a close look at some ambitious, overachieving US teenagers, in the process presenting an overview of the younger American generation. By comparison, Folktales feels less sweeping as it weaves an intimate portrait of some self-proclaimed outcasts. These Norwegian teens are sweet and bright, but for various reasons they have not been able to fit in with their peers — Folktales argues they simply needed the right outlet to express themselves.

That’s where Pasvik’s furry friends come in. Shots of beautiful Siberian Huskies are always a cheering sight, but Ewing and Grady demonstrate how these animals manage to connect with these young adults in ways traditional teachers have not. As one of the instructors explains, dogs have a marvelous ability to instil in humans a sense that they are seen and accepted, and without overstating the case Folktales observes as the students begin to build a rapport with the canines. The documentary wobbles when it tries to explain the history of these folk high schools — which have existed across Scandinavia for approximately two centuries, their approach drawing on aspects of Norse mythology — but simply showing the teens interacting with the dogs succinctly articulates the importance of regularly putting down our smartphones and embracing the natural world. By leaving the modern world and its anxieties behind, Hege, Bjorn Tore and Romain seem to make small steps toward healing.

Director of photography Lars Erlend Tubaas Oymo works with cinematographer Tor Edvin Eliassen to give the remote, forested locales an otherworldly glow. (The school benefits from being only about 300 miles from the Arctic Circle, and the aurora borealis lends the images the occasional lovely backdrop.) Pasvik’s picturesque surroundings add colour to a documentary that, admittedly, lacks much inherent drama. One of the subjects considers not returning after winter break, and a beloved dog dies, but 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. The film’s subjects illustrate just how fraught this time of life can be, and Folktales’ final section is unexpectedly bittersweet, following them as they reenter l at the end of the school year. But first, these teens get their dogsled run, which is photographed and edited for maximum exhilaration. Watching these young people, who are often riddled with insecurity, fully in touch with their inner wild animal is moving. The uncertain world beyond the Pasvik Folk High School awaits them, but for one glorious moment, they are able to run free.