A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS

A life chronicled most intimately and authentically, the Payne family experiences physical and emotional upheaval after a family tragedy. Choosing to raise their family on a secluded farm in the woods of Norway, Maria and Nik wanted nothing more than to instill a love of nature into their children. Potentially forced to sell the beloved farm that holds all their memories, Nik, Freja, Falk, Ulv, and eldest daughter Ronja navigate unfathomable loss and fight to remain connected.

Through Maria’s striking photography, home videos, and extraordinary voiceover narration, throughout several years, filmmaker Silje Evensmo Jacobsen evokes visceral hope and sadness in A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS. Exploring one family’s respect for the land, unique homeschooling, and off-grid lifestyle, Nik battles societal norms that Maria vowed to circumnavigate and financial limitations. The children are undeniably self-aware. Their openness with their emotions is breathtaking. When school thrusts technology upon them for the first time, they take to it like fish to water, much to the chagrin of Nik, but their wild essence never wanes as they long to hold onto their way of life. The film speaks to the resiliency of youth.

Witnessing the pure innocence and wonder of the Payne children hits you in the heart. It is easy to dismiss the genuine curiosity of your kids with the swirl of everyday chaos. Sundance 2024 audiences have the honor of joining together on an elegant meditation of grief and loneliness. A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS reminds us to cherish each moment, the Earth, and one another.

Click here for more information on screenings and online availability for A NEW IND OF WILDERNESS

Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, director of A New Kind of Wilderness

Silje Evensmo Jacobsen has directed award-winning documentary films and series for the past 15 years. Among others: Team Ingebrigtsen (2016, 2018) about an unconventional Norwegian family raising their children to be top runners, Faith Can Move Mountains (2021) about nuns breaking boundaries in rural Norway, and KRAFT/SPARK (2022) about young street dancers. A New Kind of Wilderness is her second feature.

 

Credits

• DIRECTOR(S)

  SILJE EVENSMO JACOBSEN

• PRODUCER

  MARI BAKKE RIISE

• EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

  KIM CHRISTIANSEN

• CINEMATOGRAPHY

  SILJE EVENSMO JACOBSEN

  KARINE FOSSER

  LINE K. LYNGSTADAAS

• EDITORS

  KRISTIAN TVEIT

  CHRISTOFFER HEIE

• COMPOSER

  OLAV ØYEHAUG

• SOUND DESIGNER

  YNGVE LEIDULV SÆTRE

• COLORIST

  TOM CHR. LILLETVEDT

• FEATURING

  ULV VATNE PAYNE

  FALK VATNE PAYNE

  FREJA VATNE PAYNE

  RONJA BREDA VATNE

  MARIA GROS VATNE

  NIKOLAUS ITHELL PAYNE

• PRODUCTION COMPANY

  A5 FILM

• YEAR

  2024

• CATEGORY

  FEATURE

• COUNTRY

  NORWAY

• LANGUAGE

  ENGLISH, NORWEGIAN

• RUN TIME

  84 MIN

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