A New Kind of Wilderness

“The Biggest Inspiration for Me Making This Film at All Was Maria’s Blog” | Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, A New Kind of Wilderness

Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? The biggest inspiration for me making this film at all was Maria’s blog, where she was telling the story of her family’s journey towards being wild and free. She inspired me so much both when it comes to storytelling, and visually with […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2024
“Me Being There by Myself Led to More Authentic and Intimate Situations”: DP Silje Evensmo Jacobsen on A New Kind of Wilderness

Director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen also served as the primary cinematographer on her documentary A New Kind of Wilderness, premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in the World Documentary Competition. The film follows the Payne family, who’ve been happily residing in a remote Norwegian forest until a death in the family forces them to move back into populated society. Below, Evensmo Jacobsen describes her approach to shooting A New Kind of Wilderness, which she did alongside directing in order to foster a more genuine intimacy with the film’s subjects. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2024
“Stay True to Your Gut”: Producer Mari Bakke Riise on A New Kind of Wilderness

When the Payne family experiences a personal tragedy, they must leave the home they love in the remote Norwegian wilderness and enmesh themselves in the society they once felt so strongly opposed to in A New Kind of Wilderness, the latest documentary from filmmaker Silje Evensmo Jacobsen. First-time producer Mari Bakke Riise, who also served as the film’s editor, discusses how her long-time collaboration with Evensmo Jacobsen led to her multi-pronged involvement on this project. See all responses to our questionnaire for first-time Sundance producers here. Filmmaker: Tell us about the professional path that led you to produce this film, your […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2024
“I Still Find Myself Getting Moved by the Film, Despite Having Watched It Hundreds of Times”: Editor Mari Bakke Riise on A New Kind of Wilderness

Premiering in the World Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, A New Kind of Wilderness is a portrait of the Payne family, who reside in the remote Norwegian wilderness in an attempt to disconnect from the modern world. When a tragic event befalls the family, however, the remaining members are forced to reintegrate into a society they once rejected. Editor Mari Bakke Riise, who previously worked with director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen on an episodic project, explains how she navigated the lack of a specific family member on-screen while cutting the film. See all responses to our annual Sundance […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2024
“My Shooting Process Involved a Mix of Planned Setups and Spontaneous Captures….”: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen on Her Sundance-debuting A New Kind of Wilderness

Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind of Wilderness is a film structured in a way I’ve not seen before. With a title that likewise could apply to the psychic space into which the audience is thrust, the rural Norway-set doc is an intimate, first-person narrated, cinematic essay from a director whose story it is not. Indeed, straight from its bold opening, the viewer is left abruptly disoriented, forever second-guessing whose eyes we are actually looking through. It’s a deft structural feat that in turn emotionally transports us into the shoes of the free-spirited, forest-dwelling – and above all grieving – Payne family, five […]
by Lauren Wissot on Jan 19, 2024

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