Film documents grief of family who made new life in the wilderness
An award-winning documentary which began with a family building a life in the Norwegian wilderness instead captured the dark months after their lives were upturned by grief. A New Kind of Wilderness, released last year, followed Nik and Maria Payne on their rural smallholding as they pursued a dream of living "outside of the rat-race", raising their three children close to nature. Director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen had been following a blog written by Maria, herself a photographer and film-maker, for years when she came up with the idea of filming the family's alternative lifestyle. But none of those involved could have foreseen Maria being diagnosed with cancer, which eventually claimed her life in 2019, aged just 41.
The film, which won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the Sundance film festival in 2024, is set to be released in cinemas in the UK on 16 May. Ms Jacobsen had filmed some of the documentary before Maria became unwell, but had paused the production for some years by the time she was diagnosed.
When she got back in touch with the Paynes in 2019, Maria had died. Nik, who grew up on a farm near Chester before moving to Norway with Maria, agreed to led Ms Jacobsen document their lives as he and their children, Ronja, Freya, Falk and Wolf, came to terms with grief. Ms Jacobsen said: "Even though I only met Maria a few times, losing her felt like losing a friend. "I felt this urgency to capture her world visually. "For me, the best way to do that was to show her story through her family, her children, and their way of life, but now also with a deeper dimension [of] how they coped after such a huge loss, while making sure Maria's spirit lived on through her photos and stories."Nik said watching the film reminded him of the dark months after losing his wife.
He told BBC North West Tonight: "It brings back the memories and you realise just how dark and hard a time it was. "And yet somehow you come through it."I always tell people that we don't know how strong we are until we need that strength. That's when we realise you just find the strength to carry on somehow."Ronja, now 20, said her lifestyle had been very different to many children's but that she now appreciated how she grew up. "I had a good balance between having a very good life at home and feeling very free," she said."Having a childhood where you could just run around, learning a lot about life."I appreciate those values now."
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
3 days ago
- Scotsman
Warning over classroom game accused of 'brainwashing' UK schoolchildren
Campaigners have accused the educational game of targeting children with 'propaganda' 💻 Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... EnergyTown is an online city builder game aimed at helping UK schools teach pupils about the energy system It is funded by energy giant Equinor, and hosts yearly school competitions Materials associated with the game describe renewable energy sources as 'less reliable' Climate campaigners accuse it of targeting children with fossil fuel propaganda But Equinor says the game demonstrates how the green energy transition is about balance Environment campaigners have sounded the alarm over a free online game being marketed to UK schoolchildren - which they say is designed to make them feel more positively about fossil fuels. EnergyTown is funded by Norwegian energy giant Equinor. Aimed at children aged nine to 14, it comes with free educational resources to be used in lessons. It allows them to build and power a city that will survive until the year 2050 - while juggling factors like their 'green score', community happiness, and finances. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The game first launched in October 2023, and as of last year, Equinor said that it had reached more than 81,400 pupils across the UK. The game also holds a schools competition with a £1,000 cash prize, with this year's event set to close on Friday (June 6). But Greenpeace accuses it of being an attempt to 'brainwash schoolchildren'. The game suggests that oil can be part of a green energy mix, and in an online help page - titled 'how to improve your score in EnergyTown - on the game's Equinor-funded host site, it warns young players that renewable energy is 'less reliable'. The EnergyTown game is marketed towards UK schoolchildren, and funded by energy giant Equinor | (Image: National World/Adobe Stock/Getty/AFP via Getty) 'If you're relying on electricity from renewable energy resources like wind and solar power, you may have less electricity due to these energy resources being less reliable,' the page says. 'You should invest in a more reliable way to generate electricity, such as nuclear, oil, natural gas or hydrogen.' Equinor is also the majority owner of the controversial Rosebank oil and gas field development, 80 miles west of Shetland, which is thought to be the largest untapped oilfield in UK waters. In January this year, its consent was quashed by the Scottish Court of Session as unlawful, the BBC reports, meaning its owners must seek fresh approval from the UK Government before they begin extracting oil. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But the project has been widely protested by campaigners, who say that new oil and gas projects are not compatible with the UK's climate commitments. 'We know exactly what Equinor is playing at,' Mel Evans, the head of Greenpeace UK's climate team, said. 'This so-called educational game is a thinly-disguised attempt to greenwash oil and gas by targeting children with fossil fuel propaganda. The bitter irony is that while fossil fuels may help build a 'sustainable' energy future in the game's fictional world, they're driving more devastating floods in some of these schoolkids' communities,' she continued. 'For that reason alone, this cynical PR ploy is doomed to fail. We know many young children know a lot about the climate crisis and what's driving it. If Equinor wants to win young hearts and minds, it should get serious about ditching fossil fuels and shifting to clean energy.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Equinor spokesperson Magnus Frantzen Eidsvold told us that the game was part of Equinor's ordinary activities and programs 'to stimulate the interest in science and technology (STEM) among young people, and not developed as part of any Rosebank campaign'. 'Equinor wants to contribute to ensuring the next generation is equipped with the skills needed to drive the energy industry and transition forward,' he continued. The game had been developed using data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which verified the scenarios used in EnergyTown to 'ensure they are realistic and representative of the UK's current energy system'. The game was designed to reflect this complexity and showed that the energy transition was about balance, he added, requiring a mix of sources over time. 'The IEA forecast that fossil fuels may be required in 2050 especially in areas where renewables alone can't meet demand. EnergyTown is not about endorsing any one solution, rather it's about equipping the next generation with knowledge to make better decisions.' The game was developed by marketing agency We Are Futures, and was quality-asserted for UK schoolchildren by the Association for Science Education (ASE). We have approached both organisations for comment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
North Wales Chronicle
4 days ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Greenpeace condemns Equinor-funded computer game aimed at UK schoolchildren
EnergyTown, aimed at children aged nine to 14, encourages players to build a city that will survive until 2050 by balancing energy, economy, environment and population wellbeing demands. The game shows fossil fuels as part of a clean future energy mix, while players who start the game with a heavy reliance on renewable energy often fail to reach the mid-century milestone. It comes as part of a school education programme launched in October 2023 by Equinor called Wonderverse, with the firm saying it has reached more than 81,400 UK pupils by the following July. The deadline for schools to enter the 2025 nationwide EnergyTown competition is on Friday. The Norwegian oil major, which is seeking to develop the controversial Rosebank oil field in the UK North Sea, has previously denied that the game is part of a lobbying campaign but rather the firm's ambitions to make young people curious about science and technology. Greenpeace has fiercely criticised the game, claiming the fossil fuel company's support for the project is a 'cynical PR ploy'. The PA News Agency has contacted Equinor for comment. Mel Evans, head of Greenpeace UK's climate team, said: 'We know many young children know a lot about the climate crisis and what's driving it. 'If Equinor wants to win young hearts and minds, it should get serious about ditching fossil fuels and shifting to clean energy.' Greenpeace highlighted a Wonderverse webpage that tells players how to improve their scores if their city fails before the mid-century mark. While it says that players should think about phasing out non-renewable energy resources as the game progresses to improve its green score, they are also advised to invest in 'more reliable' fossil fuels, nuclear and hydrogen to power their cities. It notes: 'If you're relying on electricity from renewable energy resources like wind and solar power, you may have less electricity due to these energy resources being less reliable. 'Therefore, your other facilities (such as the businesses and recreational tiles) may struggle to run.' The page later adds: 'You should invest in a more reliable way to generate electricity, such as nuclear, oil, natural gas or hydrogen. 'It is important to consider that this may negatively impact your green score,' it adds. 'You should think about how you can phase out non-renewable energy resources as you progress later in the game.' Last July, the nationwide EnergyTown competition saw 160 children take part and an 11-year-old boy in Walmley Junior School, Birmingham, win the primary school level contest. In a statement at the time, Sue Falch-Lovesey, Equinor's UK Head of Social Value, said the competition 'showed a good level of understanding of the variety of energy sources our cities of the future will need'. Greenpeace highlighted how Birmingham was hit by flash floods a week after the energy firm published the press release on its website. Ms Evans said: 'Thanks to companies like Equinor, these children are living in homes with higher energy bills; living through summers of wildfires and droughts, and winters of increasingly worse flooding. 'The UK government should stop Rosebank, and should instead invest in the wind industry in the regions where workers and communities need to transition.' After the regulator granted approval for Equinor to develop Rosebank in 2023, the Scottish Court of Session ruled the decision as unlawful in January this year. Equinor is expected to reapply for its consent to drill at Rosebank once the Government's revised guidance on emissions produced by burning oil and gas is released. EnergyTown was developed for the Equinor programme by the marketing agency We Are Futures, which has worked for other high-emitting firms like BP. In a statement, Equinor said: 'The overall intention and aim for Wonderverse and EnergyTown is to provide schools and teachers with a suite of high-quality resources to help students learn more about where energy comes from, whilst building science subject affinity and the employability skills needed to successfully enter employment.' The company said the programme has been awarded a green tick by the Association for Science Education, assuring the programme's quality for use in schools, and the game used data from the International Energy Agency to ensure the scenarios are realistic and representative of the UK's current energy system. 'The path to 2050 is complex,' it said. 'The game is designed to reflect this complexity and using the real-world data the game is based on, shows the energy transition is about balance, requiring a mix of sources over time. 'The development of the game is part of Equinor's ordinary activities and programmes to stimulate the interest in science and technology (STEM) among young people, and not developed as part of any Rosebank campaign.'
South Wales Guardian
4 days ago
- South Wales Guardian
Greenpeace condemns Equinor-funded computer game aimed at UK schoolchildren
EnergyTown, aimed at children aged nine to 14, encourages players to build a city that will survive until 2050 by balancing energy, economy, environment and population wellbeing demands. The game shows fossil fuels as part of a clean future energy mix, while players who start the game with a heavy reliance on renewable energy often fail to reach the mid-century milestone. It comes as part of a school education programme launched in October 2023 by Equinor called Wonderverse, with the firm saying it has reached more than 81,400 UK pupils by the following July. The deadline for schools to enter the 2025 nationwide EnergyTown competition is on Friday. The Norwegian oil major, which is seeking to develop the controversial Rosebank oil field in the UK North Sea, has previously denied that the game is part of a lobbying campaign but rather the firm's ambitions to make young people curious about science and technology. Greenpeace has fiercely criticised the game, claiming the fossil fuel company's support for the project is a 'cynical PR ploy'. The PA News Agency has contacted Equinor for comment. Mel Evans, head of Greenpeace UK's climate team, said: 'We know many young children know a lot about the climate crisis and what's driving it. 'If Equinor wants to win young hearts and minds, it should get serious about ditching fossil fuels and shifting to clean energy.' Greenpeace highlighted a Wonderverse webpage that tells players how to improve their scores if their city fails before the mid-century mark. While it says that players should think about phasing out non-renewable energy resources as the game progresses to improve its green score, they are also advised to invest in 'more reliable' fossil fuels, nuclear and hydrogen to power their cities. It notes: 'If you're relying on electricity from renewable energy resources like wind and solar power, you may have less electricity due to these energy resources being less reliable. 'Therefore, your other facilities (such as the businesses and recreational tiles) may struggle to run.' The page later adds: 'You should invest in a more reliable way to generate electricity, such as nuclear, oil, natural gas or hydrogen. 'It is important to consider that this may negatively impact your green score,' it adds. 'You should think about how you can phase out non-renewable energy resources as you progress later in the game.' Last July, the nationwide EnergyTown competition saw 160 children take part and an 11-year-old boy in Walmley Junior School, Birmingham, win the primary school level contest. In a statement at the time, Sue Falch-Lovesey, Equinor's UK Head of Social Value, said the competition 'showed a good level of understanding of the variety of energy sources our cities of the future will need'. Greenpeace highlighted how Birmingham was hit by flash floods a week after the energy firm published the press release on its website. Ms Evans said: 'Thanks to companies like Equinor, these children are living in homes with higher energy bills; living through summers of wildfires and droughts, and winters of increasingly worse flooding. 'The UK government should stop Rosebank, and should instead invest in the wind industry in the regions where workers and communities need to transition.' After the regulator granted approval for Equinor to develop Rosebank in 2023, the Scottish Court of Session ruled the decision as unlawful in January this year. Equinor is expected to reapply for its consent to drill at Rosebank once the Government's revised guidance on emissions produced by burning oil and gas is released. EnergyTown was developed for the Equinor programme by the marketing agency We Are Futures, which has worked for other high-emitting firms like BP. In a statement, Equinor said: 'The overall intention and aim for Wonderverse and EnergyTown is to provide schools and teachers with a suite of high-quality resources to help students learn more about where energy comes from, whilst building science subject affinity and the employability skills needed to successfully enter employment.' The company said the programme has been awarded a green tick by the Association for Science Education, assuring the programme's quality for use in schools, and the game used data from the International Energy Agency to ensure the scenarios are realistic and representative of the UK's current energy system. 'The path to 2050 is complex,' it said. 'The game is designed to reflect this complexity and using the real-world data the game is based on, shows the energy transition is about balance, requiring a mix of sources over time. 'The development of the game is part of Equinor's ordinary activities and programmes to stimulate the interest in science and technology (STEM) among young people, and not developed as part of any Rosebank campaign.'
