‘Folktales’ Trailer: This Delightful Doc Oscar Contender Chases Teen Dogsledders to the Arctic

Three Gen Zers time off their phones down to find themselves — successful Norway, arsenic rookie dogsledders — successful Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady‘s delightful documentary “Folktales.” The latest nonfiction film from nan Oscar-nominated “Jesus Camp” directing duo premiered astatine nan 2025 Sundance Film Festival, wherever Magnolia Pictures scooped it up for a home release. “Folktales” opens successful New York connected July 25 from Magnolia Pictures, pinch dates successful Los Angeles and much cities to travel starting August 1, and IndieWire shares nan exclusive trailer premiere below.

“Folktales” centers connected teenagers converging astatine a Norwegian people schoolhouse successful nan spread twelvemonth betwixt precocious schoolhouse and college, and pinch sled dogs successful tow to thief them connected their existential coming-of-age. The documentary filmmaking squad down “Boys of Baraka” this clip embedded themselves successful nan Arctic wilderness, to chronicle nan charismatic and angsty Hege, Romain, and Bjørn Tore. It’s different apt Oscar contender, a crowd-pleasing doc that will play good into nan autumn awards season.

Per Magnolia’s description, “In Norse mythology, nan 3 ‘Norns’ are powerful deities who weave nan threads of destiny and style humans’ futures. Today, Pasvik Folk High School successful bluish Norway intends to nutrient a akin life-changing effect connected its students. ‘Folktales’ tells nan timely and heartwarming communicative of teenagers who take to walk an unconventional ‘gap year’ learning to canine sled and past nan Arctic wilderness, successful hopes of uncovering relationship and meaning successful nan modern world. Guided by diligent teachers and a gait afloat of heroic Alaskan huskies, they observe their ain imaginable and create heavy relationships pinch nan land, animals and humans astir them. Through friendly verité storytelling and exhilarating cinematography, Ewing and Grady analyse humans connected nan cusp of adulthood, uncovering themselves astatine nan separator of nan world.”

“We filmed six aliases 7 group earlier schoolhouse started, hedging our bets, conscionable gathering group and going to their homes,” Ewing told IndieWire backmost astatine Sundance. “These 3 individuals each had thing they were seeking, a circumstantial logic they were going to nan people precocious school. They had roadworthy to travel. They were looking to change. We thought [these three] had nan highest chance they mightiness beryllium different astatine nan extremity than they were astatine nan beginning.”

As for nan 400 people schools passim Scandinavia that nan filmmakers had to constrictive down, “It’s an August contented successful Scandinavia. It’s a rite of passage,” Ewing. “Not each of them attraction connected nan earthy world aliases survivalist. You tin study circus arts aliases Viking life. We were willing successful nan ones that focused connected endurance and bushcraft and dog-sledding. We visited 5 schools [in Norway] and talked to astatine slightest 12. The past 1 we visited was Pasvik. It’s truthful difficult to get to. It’s truthful inconvenient. It’s truthful cold. We were like, ‘I dream this isn’t nan one.’ And of course, we met nan dog-sledding teachers, and nan spot had this stark, sadistic magic, and it was evident that location was a movie to beryllium made there.”

As IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote successful her review, “That Hege, Bjørn Tore, and Romain will study immoderate large life lessons from Pasvik successful wide and those pups successful peculiar is expected, but it’s not a given. Instead, we are treated to each nan joys and pains of 10 transformative months, pinch Ewing and Grady taking america wrong an acquisition that’s some circumstantial and oddly universal. Not everything turns retired nan measurement we expect, not each communicative has a tidy ending, but nary 1 ever said becoming a caller aforesaid was easy aliases expected. Folk precocious school? It helps. And, yes, I’d still for illustration to go.”

Watch nan trailer for “Folktales” beneath earlier Magnolia Pictures launches nan movie connected July 25.