Kabelvåg, Norway / Vienna, Austria. A film about growing up in a world in crisis, about principles, and the love of music.
“Flygskam” is the Swedish word for “flight shame”—the personal discomfort some travelers feel when taking a plane while being aware of its climate-damaging effects. In some cases, flygskam leads people to stop flying altogether. Former Stuttgart Waldorf school student Laurens Pérol translated this social phenomenon into a feature film. His 2023 directorial debut, Å Øve [Practice,] vividly illustrates the challenges faced by young people who uncompromisingly follow their principles and forgo comforts that most of their peers take for granted.
The film tells the story of 18-year-old Trine, a trumpet-playing climate activist, who lives on the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway. When she’s invited to an audition at the Oslo Opera, flying the 1500 kilometers to the capital is out of the question. Instead, she decides to hitchhike the distance in the few days leading up to the audition, even though she still needs to practice a lot to perform the Piazzolla piece well.
Practice explores current and timeless themes: the climate crisis, human convenience, the relationship between younger and older generations, and the question of what truly matters. To prepare for filming, Pérol hitchhiked the entire distance between the Lofoten Islands, where he studied at the Nordland College of Art and Film in Kabelvåg, and Oslo. Like the main protagonist, Trine, he and his film crew completely abstained from flying, both during filming and on the subsequent film tour. Instead, they traveled by train, bus, and hitchhiking, even if it meant Pérol had to decline some invitations to international film festivals.
Practice, which was filmed on a relatively small budget in just twelve days. It received positive international acclaim and won awards at two German film festivals. In an interview with Erziehungskunst, Pérol reflects on how his time at the Michael-Bauer-School in Stuttgart shaped his artistic direction. Pérol hopes that film will be taught alongside other artistic subjects at Waldorf schools because film conveys so much: technique, aesthetics, teamwork, political responsibility, music, speech, and movement. Practice is available to order on DVD now.
Sources Erziehungskunst, Arsenal Filmverleih and Kino Zeit
Translation Paula Boslau
Image Trine practices in the wilderness, Photo: Arsenal Filmverleih/Felix Neunzerling PR
