I think the inspiration behind this documentary has to do with water, because Minnesota has a strong connection to Norway.

But what connects us the most, I think, is our love for the water.

Here in Minnesota.

We have a lot of love for lakes and rivers.

In Norway, they spend a lot of time in the ocean and in the fjords.

So I think to connect us through fishing and boat building, it really makes sense to me.

It's like kind of what the Norwegians brought to Minnesota is that love for the outdoors and that love for being on the water.

So originally I wasn't going to be on screen.

I'm a producer, so I try to stay invisible as much as possible.

The editor of this documentary, Mike Scholtz he decided that it was a really interesting tie that my family had been boat-builders and fishermen from Norway and that we really would- it would be doing an injustice to the boat-building documentary if we didn't at least mention that I had this strong tie to boat-building in Norway.

So he helped write a script for me to talk about my family's history, and we included that story to sort of tie together our journey in Norway, The ending of the documentary, where the music sort of drops and you get these shots of everybody along the water and you can really just kind of feel that passion for the ocean and making boats and just the Norwegian culture at the end.

So I'd say like the dramatic turning point at the end is my favorite part of the documentary.

I also really like the husband and wife sailmakers and their excitement for showing us how everything works with the sail making was another favorite part of the documentary for me.

What was interesting about this trip in this documentary, is we went during the Midnight Sun and the Midnight Sun is when it kind of never really gets fully dark or maybe just for a few minutes.

So it was light around the clock.

So when we stayed in hotels, we had to pull down the shades and darken the rooms.

We had a full week of shooting and we never really saw darkness that entire time.

So my favorite part of Norway that I saw on this trip was Lofoten Islands, which has a beautiful mountain scape with the mountains dropping right into the ocean.

And when we arrived it was midnight and there was the sun was just setting at midnight.

So we had this golden hour and there's this beautiful golden light that was falling on the fish racks and the landscape.

So that was a memory that sticks out to me.

We spent an afternoon in Nesna, where I know that my great great grandfather and great great grandmother are from.

And they went to church there and to see the church where they were baptized and confirmed was a really powerful experience to me.

I would like to go back and spend some more time there, but I did feel a little bit of a connection to the land in the area and it was just surprisingly beautiful.

I couldn't believe they would leave there or like how hard it would have been for them to leave a landscape that's like on the ocean and go to some place in the middle of the prairie that's completely landlocked and just like what a huge change that would have been for them.

And just understanding more like why they built boats when they moved to Minnesota, why they fished all the time, and how that kind of got passed down to my parents and hopefully to my son as well.

Absolutely, not just connected to my ancestors, but I've now met friends over in Norway and I get to follow them on Instagram and see what kind of things that Norwegians do today.

So, like, understanding the Norwegian culture has become a lot easier for me.

Just having that personal connection to people that live there today and understanding kind of the differences between American and Norwegian culture, which are I was thinking that because we live in Minnesota, which is, you know, has a lot of Norwegian pride and we keep the culture alive here I was thinking that I would have like a natural understanding of what today's Norwegians are like, but I feel like their culture is really different than ours.

Even in Minnesota.

So to get a sneak peek into what that's like, I think was really interesting.

Every time you travel, there's always going to be something right?

An obstacle that you didn't expect or, you know, that throws a wrench in it, you know.

So this time when we were flying to Norway, one of our crew member’s suitcases was completely lost in Amsterdam and it didn't make it to our final destination.

So we waited for like probably an hour or two after we landed, looked, seeing if it would show up and it just never did.

And so we had to spend our first night getting clothes for him so that he could have something to wear on this trip.

And eventually we were able to track down where the missing suitcase went and our guide and our crew member drove to this remote airport where they dropped it off in some kind of like small plane.

But eventually the situation remedied itself.

But that's one thing about travel that's kind of exciting.

You don't know what's going to go wrong, but something probably will at some point, and it's all about how you make the best of it.

The difference between making a documentary in a foreign country like Norway or making something here in Minnesota is that everything needs to be prepared approximately a year ahead of time.

So there's a lot of calling overseas, a lot of research, a lot of studying of schedules and hotels and driving distances just to be able to plan how we can film probably two months of worth of stuff in 7 to 10 days.

So I would say the pre-planning is pretty intense and really important for doing a production overseas.

You don't want to just show up and everything unravels and you spend all this money to get over there and nothing works out.

So I would say like being flexible and being able to roll with the punches is a really important part of filming overseas, but also just making sure you've got all of your details aligned.

Like if you were to ask me to move to Norway tomorrow for love and just to drop everything like my family and my job to do what my great great grandparents did and just leave everything they've ever known behind for a land that they couldn't Google or they couldn't research online.

Just a total mystery.

I think that would be a kind of bravery that I don't have.

Part of me kind of does wish they had stayed in Norway.

I personally have a very strong connection to the ocean.

I feel like that's my place.

Being landlocked the way that we are is something that doesn't fit well with me.

So I do kind of feel like they had I wish they had stayed in Norway, but the opportunities that being in the United States provides, I think for a filmmaker it's pretty unmatched.

So I'm glad that I'm here.

I could tell my great great grandparents something.

I would tell them that they're pretty much badass.

They’re like kind of the coolest people I know and I don't really know them, but they're the coolest people I know of.

Like, I can imagine what they went through and how strong they had to be to survive, but I would love to sit down with them for a day and hear about their journey across the ocean and what kind of incredible things they encountered along the way.

So I think making documentaries like this one and others that we've made in the past has really helped bridge Norwegian and American culture.

For example, we've brought Olav over, our guide, who has taught classes here in the United States, and just having the person to person connection with the people that we meet along the way I think is really important.

And these are connections that wouldn't be made otherwise.

So I think every time we go over it has an impact and it gets people interested and thinking about how we are connected to Norway and Scandinavia and how how we can strengthen that connection and preserve that culture.

Making a documentary like this helps transfer the knowledge of traditional crafts making because somebody might watch this and gain interest in boat building or want to pick up a hardanger fiddle.

Even myself, I've considered ways I could go over and take a boat making class.

And there's plenty of folk schools here in Minnesota that teach that type of thing.

So I think it also helps support the folk community here in Minnesota by getting people interested in making things themselves and connecting to the old ways.

The journey of this documentary has taken me on is kind of something really unexpected.

I wasn't planning to be on camera, so it's one helped me be more comfortable with myself and being filmed.

But two, it's really increased my interest in Norway and Norwegian culture and my own family history in a way that I didn't expect.

I would love to learn more and spend more time there, and it's something I want to bring my own family like my own son.

I'd love to connect him to Norway and his heritage.

So it’s suddenly become a big part of my life.

- [Narrator] Postcards is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the Citizens of Minnesota.

Additional support provided by Margaret A Cargill Philanthropies, Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen on behalf of Shalom Hill Farms, a retreat and conference center in a prairie setting near Wyndham, Minnesota.

On the web at shalomhillfarm.org.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a year-round destination with hundreds of lakes, trails, and attractions for memorable vacations and events.

More information at explorealex.com.

The Lake Region Arts Council's Arts calendar, an arts and cultural heritage funded digital calendar showcasing upcoming art events and opportunities for artists in West Central Minnesota.

On the web at lrac4calendar.org.

Playing today's new music plus your favorite hits, 96.7kram.

Online at 967kram.com.

(peaceful rhythmic music)