Being Ola opens up a new world of compassion and hope

Let life take you on an adventure

Synneva Bratland
Editorial Assistant
The Norwegian American

Oslo native Ragnhild Nøst Bergem is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and cinematographer. Her most recent film, Being Ola, has been a huge success in Norway since its release in 2023 and will now see its U.S. premiere at the Scandinavian Cultural Center at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) in Tacoma, Wash. on Sept. 29.

In the middle of July, Editor-in-chief Lori Ann Reinhall and I were lucky enough to talk to Bergem about Being Ola. A sunny, plant-filled room served as the background for our Zoom call, as the filmmaker pulled back the curtain on the filmmaking experience in a friendly and down-to-earth conversation. We were soon on a first-name basis.

A special place

When Ragnhild was a film student, she was assigned to create a film featuring a small community or group. To do that, she made her way to Vidaråsen Landsby.

Nestled in the forests of Vestfold about 90 minutes southwest of Oslo, this little village and its 150 inhabitants have a unique story to share.

Vidaråsen describes itself as a “living and working community for both people with learning disabilities and the staff who work with them.” Their vision for their community is “a meaningful daily life, individual development, [and] cooperation with others.”

Vidaråsen is a Camphill community—one of more than 100 worldwide and the first of six in Norway (camphill.org). The first Camphill village was founded in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1939 by a group of refugees from Nazi Germany. This group, led by Austrian pediatrician Dr. Karl König, was inspired by the ideas of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian-born spiritualist and lecturer.

The core of these ideas is that every person has a fundamental individuality regardless of their ability, race, or religion. According to Vidaråsen’s website (vidarasen.camphill.no/english/category1135.html), the Camphill movement strives to build communities where children, youth, and adults can live and work together with others. It is “a situation based on mutual respect and care.”

It was through her education at a Waldorf school (called a Steinerskole in Norwegian after Rudolf Steiner), that Ragnhild first learned about Vidaråsen and visited there.

Captivated by the people, the slower pace of life, and the village’s proximity to nature, Ragnhild returned to Vidaråsen after she finished her film studies in 2016. While she was there, she began filming again.

At first, she was unsure of exactly what story she wanted to tell (something not uncommon in documentary filmmaking). Ultimately, it became clear that a resident named Ola Henningsen should be the star of it all.

Ola’s story unfolds

Ola is a a 30-year-old man living at Vidaråsen, who describes himself as “en helt vanlig uvanlig fyr” (a totally typical atypical guy). He also has a mild intellectual disability, which he speaks very openly about.

He says his awareness of his disability began when he started to wonder why everything went so slowly for him—why he always thought so much slower than everyone else, why he was never the first to raise his hand in class, why he was always the slowest in gym class, and what the reason could be for that.

This is the first of many things Ola shares about his experiences in the film. These shots, filmed close to his face, provide an intimate portrait of Ola, placing his individual perspective and humanity in the spotlight.

The opening scenes of the film depict the environment at Vidaråsen. Birds sing, children ride hoverboards and play foosball, community members pick vegetables, and Ola rides his bike. Immediately, the viewer is drawn into this charming and serene atmosphere.

Supporting and sharing

Ola explains that living in the “extended flat share” at Vidaråsen, they share everything: “sorrows, joys, fiascos, work … life in general.”

As idyllic as this sounds, however, Ragnhild explains that there are also drawbacks to living in the village of Vidaråsen. Our society consistently rewards individualism and self-sufficiency, and living in a rural village can also isolate a person from the rest of the world.

Throughout the film, Ola talks about Vidaråsen in contrast to the “real life” outside of the village. He often questions whether he should stay there or move back to his hometown, Tønsberg. Ola recognizes, however, that life in Tønsberg would likely be very lonely. At Vidaråsen, he is empowered to take chances because of the support he has around him.

The documentary process

During the process of making the documentary, Ragnhild was the only person filming, which proved to be both rewarding and challenging.

On the one hand, it was easier for Ola to open up about his experiences because it was just the two of them. The close bond between Ragnhild and Ola is seen and felt throughout the film and is part of what presents such a nuanced portrait of Ola.

In contrast, it is incredibly difficult to create a full-length documentary film when you are the only one filming. Because Ragnhild was the only person who was visiting Vidaråsen, she was also the only person who really understood what an incredible story she was capturing on film. This meant that she had to apply many times for funding to share this story. Luckily, Ragnhild was quite persistent in advocating for her vision and the film.

A voice for the often misunderstood

A strong motivation for Ragnhild to create this film was to amplify the voice of a member of an underrepresented community. Ola, then, was a perfect match — he doesn’t often see his identity or experiences like his own reflected in the media and hoped that, by sharing his story, it could help others like him, and the entire disabled community.

There is often a narrative of disabled people “being a burden” for others in life. One of the reasons he moved to Vidaråsen in the first place was to find a place for him to live where the responsibility of supporting him doesn’t fall on his siblings.

This is often a conversation that seems to be had about disabled people, but rarely with disabled people. Unfortunately, this pattern can be seen in discussions about so many groups in our society. The film serves as an important reminder of how important it is to include the people directly affected by decisions in the decision-making process.

One particularly impactful scene in the film features Ola playing the piano. We first see him nervously practicing alone, before he takes the stage in front of a full house. The concert is celebrating a long-time member of the community, and making this contribution is clearly very important to Ola.

When it’s his turn to perform, Ola sits down at the piano bench and takes a deep breath. Unfortunately, things don’t go quite as planned. Ola plays some wrong notes, gets a bit flustered, and ultimately ends his performance early.

Before the event is over, someone asks Ola if he’d like to try again. She sits on the piano bench next to him and plays an additional melody on top of his part. This time, Ola plays the piece just as he practiced it. This scene is a poignant metaphor for Ola’s life at Vidaråsen, clearly highlighting the impact that a supportive community has on Ola’s ability to succeed.

In our conversation, Ragnhild added that when Ola tried his performance a second time, it was a “dream scenario” for a documentary filmmaker. She explained that “small situations are big to [Ola],” yet he dared to get back up on the stage and try again—something Ragnhild says she wouldn’t have dared to do.

Through following his everyday life, Ola has become a real inspiration to Ragnhild. His life may look different from the average 30-year-old Norwegian, but his experiences are deeply relatable—whether it’s being anxious to perform in front of a crowd, deciding between living in a tight-knit community or having more individual freedom, sadness and grief when a friend moves away, the desire to do meaningful work, or a deep love for his family and friends.

The power of friendship

Ragnhild highlights many relationships in Ola’s life throughout the film, but perhaps the most important is his friendship with Lasse.

We first meet Lasse when he and Ola are working in the woodshop together. The two men chat about their friendship—how close they’ve become, their ability to talk for hours.

It is incredibly difficult when, not long after we’re first introduced to Lasse, it turns out that he is leaving Vidaråsen and returning to Denmark. Although Ola understands that Lasse is choosing to be closer to family, he is understandably upset about this change. A lot changes for Ola after Lasse leaves.

One day, Ola explains that he’s considering traveling to Denmark to visit Lasse. As someone who has never traveled alone, this is an overwhelming undertaking. Ola goes back and forth trying to decide what he should do.

In the end, Ragnhild travels to Denmark with Ola. Her support acts as a sort of safety net, allowing Ola to take a chance and an opportunity that he otherwise could not have.

This trip to visit Lasse has a profound impact on Ola. And although he and Lasse don’t talk every day, or even see each other very often, their bond is so close and so sincere that their friendship is able to pick right back up where it left off.

Universal experience

His life may look different from the average 30-year-old Norwegian, but his experiences are deeply relatable — whether it’s being anxious to perform in front of a crowd, deciding between living in a tight-knit community or having more individual freedom, sadness and grief when a friend moves away, the desire to do meaningful work, or a deep love for his family and friends.

This movie tells us a fundamental story of the human experience that Ragnhild has captured through Ola’s perspective. Although his disability affects nearly every aspect of his life, he is still living a rich and beautiful and complicated life, just like everyone else.

I hope that I — and anyone else who watches Ola’s story — can live with even a portion of the openness and vulnerability that Ola does.

Overwhelming reception

Ragnhild shared that the public’s reaction to the film has been overwhelming. They went on a tour of over 80 showings, including special events, student screenings, conversations with local communities, and more. It isn’t always easy to convince people to go and watch this kind of film, but it has been all over the news and so many people have come to see the film.

Since its release last year, Being Ola won the Gullruten award (a local Emmy) for Best Documentary Film and was nominated for Best Directing in a Documentary and Best Cinematography in a Documentary. The film also won “Sølvklumpen” (meaning “The Silver Lump”), an award presented by the Norwegian Cinema Managers’ Association, for Best Theatrical Film. It was also awarded an honorable mention at Human International Filmfestival.

As for Ola, Bergem says, “the good thing about living at Vidaråsen is that everything continues as usual. He has to go to work, and once the hype is over, things will be business as usual.”

Nonetheless, participating in this film has made Ola more adept at expressing his thoughts. His brave storytelling has also inspired others to share their stories with him, and the whole process has made him even prouder of who he is.

U.S. premiere

With its U.S. premiere at PLU in Tacoma this month, Being Ola will bring to together students, members of the Scandinavian Cultural Center, social workers and health-care professionals, and the general public.  At this free event, the filmmaker will be there from Norway to introduce the film and will be  attending a reception following the  showing.

On Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m., there will be an opportunity to experience another  Ragnhild Nøst Bergem film, Stay.  In this warm and highly respected documentary, we meet three adults whose lives are severely changed because of their dementia, which makes them completely dependent on their surroundings.

In this life-giving movie, the filmmaker plows deeply into the sad loss of dementia disease, along with lighter moments and even humor.

The screening of Stay is also free and open to the general public.

Visit the PLU Scandinavian Cultural Center’s events calendar on their website for more details about both film screenings: plu.edu/scancenter/calendar-of-events.

All photos: Ragnhild Nøst Bergem

This article originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of  The Norwegian American.