In the time of takeaway coffees and Apple Watches, what does it mean to be free and closer to nature? Maria and Nik’s family have given up city life, comfort and pace to be in harmony with themselves – and it seems they’ve succeeded. Photographer Maria calls it quitting the “rat race,” where they can only rely on themselves. In this downshifting, personal-fulfilment-oriented lifestyle, the family of six harvests tree sap, tends a vegetable garden, takes care of farm animals, spends hours homeschooling, and has found their liberation in rural Norway. However, the blissful shared life, which parents sometimes question as being wrong for their children, is abruptly cut short – sadness fills the family and accompanies them on their journey back to the city…

A subtle, brilliant documentary sensation for those weary of our time. The portrayed characters, former city dwellers, along with director Evensmo Jacobsen, open a vast space for conversation – on the fascination with the everlasting idea of living in harmony with nature, making ends meet, the Instagram facade versus reality, and parents’ responsibility for making decisions on behalf of their children. The Sundance Documentary section winner speaks to us in a nearly familiar soothing tone, insightfully portraying modern lifestyles and the truths and paradoxes of changing environments, much like the Cash family in the acclaimed drama Captain Fantastic (2016). Evensmo Jacobsen blends intimate documentary footage with Maria Vatne’s original photography, which the director first discovered online. It only seemed fitting, in the director’s view, to title the film A New Kind of Wilderness – just like Maria’s blog post, in which she reveals she is battling cancer.