Folktales

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Folktales

2025,

1h 46m,

Documentary

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85%

54 Reviews

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85%

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54 Reviews

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In Oscar®-nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's life-affirming documentary, 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 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, Ewing and Grady examine humans on the cusp of adulthood, finding themselves at the edge of the world.

Critics Consensus

Folktales may skim the surface of its subjects' growing pains, but is most resonant in its heartwarmingly pleasant, canine-abundant exterior.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Dec 8, 2025

Strikingly photographed and rooted in the earthy rhythms and traditions of the land, this is restorative comfort cinema. that has a kinship with pictures such as The Truffle Hunters and Honeyland. A film to renew the soul.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

Dec 3, 2025

4/5

Sequences of dog-sledding across blue-tinged frozen fields; building campfires under the aurora borealis, snowfields framed by dark and ancient trees; and tending to the school’s boisterous animals offer both visual adventure and lots of feels.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Dec 2, 2025

3/5

They have to swim in icy water; and they make it look like fun. What doesn’t look like fun is the camping out.

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Barbara Shulgasser

Common Sense Media

Sep 15, 2026

4/5

Set amid the spectacular scenery of the Norwegian wilderness, Folktales is a moving film that looks at the difficult years all of us experience in the crossover from childhood to adulthood.

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Justine Elias

The Arts Desk

Dec 10, 2025

4/5

...Folktales reveals some deeper truths about how the young, and maybe all of us, are simply overwhelmed and overstimulated by the modern world.

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Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

Dec 8, 2025

4/5

It's a remarkable look at people who care about helping young people find inner strength to face what the world has in store.

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Heidi Ewing

Director

Rachel Grady

Director

Maiken Baird

Executive Producer

Michael Bloom

Executive Producer

Christine Connor

Executive Producer

Ian Darling

Executive Producer

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Synopsis

In Oscar®-nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's life-affirming documentary, 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 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, Ewing and Grady examine humans on the cusp of adulthood, finding themselves at the edge of the world.

Director: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
Producer: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Magnolia Pictures, Topic Studios, Fifth Season, Loki Films
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Norwegian
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 25, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 2, 2025
Box Office (Gross USA): $128.9K
Runtime: 1h 46m

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