Being Ola
Ragnhild Noest Bergem / Norway / 2023 / 72 min
Heartwarming and life-affirming Norwegian coming-of-age story about the intellectually disabled man Ola, his deeply felt friendship with Danish Lasse and the need for all people to belong.
30-year-old Ola lives in the small Norwegian village of Vidaråsen, where the 150 residents are a fine mix of people with and without disabilities. A community living a slow-paced life in harmony with nature and values such as empathy, respect and interdependence. Ola, who has an intellectual disability, spends his days in the village, working in the workshop, pulling carrots from the ground and chatting for hours with his best friend, Lasse, who lives in the village. The conversations and cordial friendship are a highlight of Ola’s daily life, but in the background, there’s always the threat of Lasse getting fed up with his work or moving back to Denmark. Norwegian audience favourite ‘Being Ola’ is first and foremost an honest and heartwarming portrait of the thoughtful and gracious Ola, but through him and his reflections, it tells the universal story of inclusion, diversity, independence and the importance of being exactly who you are. No matter who you are.