“Built with Love” world premiere to be held at North House Folk School in Grand Marais November 18 at noon

A new feature-length documentary by the award-winning Pioneer PBS Postcards team is set to have its world premiere along the shore of Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Entitled “Built with Love,” the film follows Pioneer PBS Senior Producer Dana Conroy as she travels north along the coast of Norway to meet some of the last few people still building boats in the old Norwegian tradition. Along the way, Conroy discovers what her own great-great-grandfather gave up when he moved to America for the woman he loved. The event will be held to help launch the Winterers’ Gathering and Arctic Film Festival sponsored by North House Folk School in Grand Marais on Friday, November 18, 2022, at noon. As an added attraction to this special event, Olav Luksengård Mjelva will be giving a short live performance featuring Hardanger fiddle music. For more information, visit pioneer.org/boat or call 1-800 726-3178.

“Built with Love” is edited by Mike Scholtz, a Duluth area filmmaker and long-time collaborator with Dana Conroy and videographers Kristofor Gieske and Ben Dempcy. In June of 2022, the Postcards team plied Norway’s northwest and northeast coasts, visiting communities such as Flakkfjorden, Stadsbygn, Joa Island, Nesna and the Lofoten islands. They encountered a cast of characters engaged in the craft of traditional Norwegian boat building and sailmaking. Master craftsmen like Einar Borgfjorn, Frode Bjøru and Ulf Mikalsen shared their love for boats along with up-and-coming apprentices like Vebjorn Reitan and Stephanie Hiem. Historic sites such as the Coastal Heritage Museum in Stadsbygd and the Lofoten Stockfish Museum also feature prominently in the film.

The Postcards team was guided in their journey by Olav Luksengård Mjelva, an internationally known artist and musician who served as field producer and violinist for the production. Mjelva is traveling to Grand Marais for the world premiere and will give a short performance as part of the event.

North House Folk School is serving as host for the event, which is a small part of the much larger Winterers’ Gathering and Arctic Film Festival — a multi-day educational event that celebrates the crafts, customs, landscape, history and stories of winter travel and traditional lifeways in the north.

The world premiere event is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged by visiting pioneer.org/boat or by calling 1-800-726-3178. The event will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in the Blue Building of the North House campus. Refreshments will be served, and participants will have an opportunity to meet with the filmmakers.