Viking Magazine - March 2017 - 38

Q&A
A Picture of the Good Life
Frode Fimland's sleeper-hit documentary takes viewers back to
the land. BY DENISE LOGELAND
D
ocumentary maker Frode
Fimland's hit " Siblings
Are Forever, Søsken til evig
tid " follows brother and sister
Magnar and Oddny Kleiva
through a year of simple living
and hard physical work on their
farm in Naustdal in western
Norway, where Fimland grew
up. In their 70s, the siblings care
for their animals and live in a
rhythm unchanged by North Sea
oil or the Internet.
Fimland says he never
expected the crowds who
turned up in theaters to see
this quiet story. When it aired
on Norwegian television up
against the " Downton Abbey, "
Christmas special, it got more
viewers than the very popular
BBC drama.
" Siblings, " a 2013 release,
went on to win numerous
honors in Norway, Best Picture
at a 2014 fi lm festival in Italy
and Best Feature at the 2015 Big
Sky Documentary Film Festival
in Montana. That year, Fimland
made a sequel, " The Grand
Journey, " following Magnar and
Oddny on the trip of a lifetime
to visit their American relatives
in Glenwood, Minn.
Q When did you realize
Magnar and Oddny's story
was one you wanted to tell?
A In 2011, I realized I have to
do this story and I have to do
it now because they're getting
older. When I asked them,
they said yes at once because
38 VIKING MARCH 2017
they could see that their life is
so different. Magnar thought
it might be okay for younger
people to see how it is to be an
old-fashioned farmer.
Q When you were making
the fi rst fi lm, what did you
hope people would get
from it?
A I don't think I saw the depth
of the story in the beginning.
But that became more and more
clear. And in a way I asked
myself, is this a good life that
they have? Neither of them ever
had much chance to marry.
They've worked hard on the
farm from the age of 10 or 12.
But I think they are very pleased
with their life. The success of the
fi lm is that it reached something
in people and took them out of
a rushed and materialistic life.
Magnar and Oddny are not
concerned about those things.
And if you ask them about their
backs [both are very stooped],
they say they're okay. A lot of
people complain about much
less, but Magnar and Oddny
never complain about anything.
Q You've used social media
to promote your fi lms and
" Siblings " has a big following
on Facebook.
A People are fond of Magnar
and Oddny. They love them in
a way and they wanted to hear
more stories about them. So
after the fi rst fi lm was fi nished,
we posted some things. They
sonsofnorway.com
got a new tractor with two seats
and we did a video about that.
During the 10 days that we
were posting from Glenwood,
the Facebook page went from
18,000 followers to 43,000, and
now we're at about 58,000.
Q Do people in different
countries respond differently
to these fi lms?
A Not that much. I've been
very pleased, because then I see
that a small story from Norway
can work for a bigger audience
and other cultures. When
we screened the fi rst fi lm in
Minneapolis, I saw how people
reacted to life on this farm in
Norway that is maybe similar
to a farm that their ancestors
left from. I think there are
some strong bonds still, and I
want to do more research and
stories from the Midwest for a
Norwegian audience. There are
a lot of stories to tell.
Name:
Frode Fimland
Occupation:
Photojournalist
and independent
fi lmmaker
broadcasted on
Norway's NRK and
TV2
Hometown:
Naustdal, in Sogn
og Fjordane
Based In:
Bergen
Learn more
at fi mfi lm.no and
order DVDs at
soskentilevigtid.no.
PHOTO BY VEGARD FIMLAND
http://www.lm.no http://www.soskentilevigtid.no http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - March 2017

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