From their films such as “Jesus Camp” and “One of Us,” you’d know that Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing are never afraid to take the plunge into depths unknown, but to do so literally was a first – and of course, they were led there by their subjects in their latest film “Folktales.”
“There’s a scene in the film where the kids jump into the frozen river in up in Finnmark in Norway and we filmed the whole thing,” recalls Grady, who proudly described herself as “not a winter person” before heading into the Arctic Circle. “And then we put the cameras down and the sound guy and I were like, ‘We have to do it, so we actually did this plunge there and it was a foot of ice that they cut a hole in, and then you’re jumping in the water and they tie a rope around you because there’s such a strong current under the ice, so you could get pulled under, which I didn’t know when I did it. I thought the rope was in case you had a heart attack. But it changed my mind forever about what we are capable of doing because I am a wimp and I do not like the cold. Now I know how to dress and I’m not scared of it anymore.”
That kind of newfound self-confidence ends up occurring as much in front of the camera as behind it in Grady and Ewing’s great Scandinavian adventure as the directing duo heads to Pasvik Folk High School where dogsledding is the sport of choice and the education is specifically geared towards students learning more about themselves rather than any other subject as the quiet of a rural setting allows for reflection. The unusual school, which is purposefully set up for recent graduates of a more traditional high school for a year before they reach college, first came to Ewing’s attention from a brief mention in the book “Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North” by Blair Braverman, an American that attended the school to learn how to mush, and when she and Grady have long been attracted to capturing transformational experiences, they thought nothing of booking a transcontinental flight.
Arriving 20 years after they first broke out with “The Boys of Baraka,” where the two found seventh and eighth graders from Baltimore in Kenya learning what life was like on the other side of the world, Grady and Ewing again track a few fish out of water in Hege, Romain and Bjorn-Tore, a group of teens that could use a break from the modern world where they are inundated at all times with pressure from social media and have yet to fully find their footing as they’re expected to start heading to their destiny as adults. Although they make the occasional call to their families back home, the kids learn outdoor survival techniques from camping trips and calm their minds with such activities as learning to cobble shoes and by the time the film reaches a thrilling sled dog race for its climax, they can be seen starting to have navigation skills beyond just the tundra immediately in front of them.
When Ewing and Grady are relating a tale as old as time, it’s fitting that they place Hege, Romain and Bjorn-Tore’s coming of age in the context of the local legend of the Norns, Norse goddesses who are thought to have a hand in fate and spin yarn around a tree where the future can take root, and just as the trio of teens can feel as if they’ve stepped into another world as they get in greater touch with who they are, “Folktales” offers the same level of immersion as the foreign suddenly feels more familiar as a common thread of adolescence can be recognized. Following a triumphant premiere earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, the film is now beginning to roll out to theaters around the U.S. and Grady kindly took the time to talk about how she ended up in lower temperatures she’d ever experienced before for this warm film about growing up, how carefully she and Ewing went about filming both their subjects and the dogsled racing sequences and how the film is a real celebration of teachers as much as students.
I can’t help but wonder, given the timeline of when this was made, whether part of the appeal of this was getting a bit of an escape?
There was like a confluence of many things. One was the timing was good for coming out of COVID, and just like everybody, trying to figure out what really is important to ourselves. And we love a school and we love a kid coming-of-age story, but it seemed even almost more urgent for these kids that had just been so lonely and isolated and in their house and [this was] a school that got them out into the middle of the wilderness — and got us to the wilderness. Then there were the dogs and the teachers. So one of the draws for sure was the location and for us to have an adventure while we were watching them have an adventure and all of it added up to really one of the most, at least production-wise, ambitious films we’ve ever made.
It was moving to me to think with “The Boys of Baraka” at the start of your work together with Heidi as a relatively clear parallel to “Folktales” in terms of story, we’ve really been able to see how you’ve grown as filmmakers. Was that experience in mind as you were making this?
Absolutely. It was very meaningful as a kind of bookend to the “Boys of Baraka” and how that was our first film together. It changed us so much, and to see a young person before your eyes, turn into a version of themselves was always really profound for us, so it was not lost on us. [“Folktales”] felt like it was meant to be, and on top of it, we’ve had a company called Loki Films for 20 years for no good reason and then we’re doing something in the North of Norway and incorporating Norse mythology, so I was like, “Finally, now I know why we called it that.”
The legend of the Norn actually becomes a major foundational piece for “Folktales.” What was that like to build around?
From early on, we started kicking the tires and it took the entire edit to nail it. But the place is very mystical and I started reading a lot of mythology there because I thought it would be an interesting way to learn about the culture. The stories seem to be lining up with this concept of looking for wisdom and searching for a conquest, which is what all the myths are at their heart are. Then we found this tree that was really unusual — there’s not trees like that [even] there. They’re all pine trees, so the fact that this tree was there felt so organic and it was one of a lot of things that kept pushing us in that direction.
At Sundance, I recall Heidi saying that the people you followed were pretty obvious when you look for people preparing for a big change in their life. And not only do they have the capacity to change, but that they’re able to articulate it so well. Did you know that was part of the package from the beginning or something you could bring out?
It was part of the package from the beginning. Like the people you’re filming, the filmmakers also go through a process of discovery and then while we were editing it, it became clear that they were the ones that were the most articulate [as far as being] able to nail exactly what they were hoping to get out of the year. We had to live with the material a little bit and then it became really obvious, and of course you have to follow people that are up for change, but then they had told us in their own words that that’s what they were looking for, so it made sense that we ended up following them.
Was there anything that happened that you might not have expected that you could embrace?
It’s a very special age for all of us where you’re transitioning from childhood to adulthood and your identity is being cemented, so that was definitely going to happen because that’s what happens to people this age. But all the specifics — Hege happened to be incredibly good at this and she just fell right into it. She went from [being savvy about] makeup and social media, typical teenager [stuff] – to [being] someone that could live in the woods easily. And the boys found each other and their friendship was so organic and touching and unexpected. The beauty of an observational film are those things are surprising, but you can never guess what they’re going to be in advance and in fact, if you can guess what it’s going to be in advance, it’s probably not very exciting for the audience either.
What was it like to take on the dogsledding sequences?
We barely did it. [laughs] We tried so many things and we would get a piece right and then we would work on that and figure it out [like] this [camera] mount works with this leash or this person is good at doing this and we have to get on a snowmobile and different people drive them differently and this guy’s better at it. But literally every time we got a piece of information, it was a puzzle. So it’s really hard to film dog sledding. We did not know how hard it was and that it’s nearly impossible, but luckily we got to do it many times so that we could perfect it. It ended up being super fun, but it was a technical challenge that is also very specific. Hopefully, we’ll get to use this skill again, but it’s doubtful.
The score is also quite invigorating and blends something timeless with a more contemporary sound. What was it like to put music on it?
It was a wonderful collaboration between us and a composer named Todd Griffin, who we’ve worked with many times in the past and he’s seasoned and such a good musician, and we paired him with [Blair French], who we’ve known for a long time. He was really young when we met him and did the score for “Detropia,” so he’s a beats guy and he’s got a dancey vibe that wouldn’t necessarily have been appropriate to the film on its own, but we felt Todd’s music would just be enhanced by these other beats, so we got them together and they collaborated beautifully and we got this mix of what you said, which is old and contemporary living together in the same movie.
The premiere at Sundance was quite emotional and when you tell these stories of people finding their confidence, what it’s like for you seeing bringing people up on stage and being in that moment with them where they can really soak in that appreciation because of the film you made?
It’s always a total thrill. It makes me bubble up with emotion and tears and it was really special for the teachers to get that kind of attention. They got a standing ovation in Salt Lake, and it was just so great to see teachers, who are one of the lifelines to a society and a real heartbeat. No one usually pays attention to them or talks about them or remembers their name, but they’re crucial to how society functions, so for these teachers who never expected a drop of attention and live in a tiny little town in the north of Norway to get a standing ovation in Utah was just really heartwarming.
“Folktales” is now playing in New York at the IFC Center and opens on August 1st in additional cities, including Los Angeles at the Monica Film Center and Laemmle NoHo 7. A full list of theaters and dates is here.