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Grief of family who made new life in the wilderness

Roger Johnson & Jonny Humphries
BBC News
Maria Vatne Maria and Nik Payne sit on a sofa leaning into each other and touching foreheads, as their four children sit around themMaria Vatne
Nik and Maria Payne moved their family to a smallholding in Norway before tragedy struck

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 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.

Maria Vatne Nik Payne, who is topless, peers from inside a leafy bush with his young sons on his kneeMaria Vatne
Nik Payne said watching the film back reminded him of the dark time after his wife's death

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.

Nik Payne, who has dark hair and is wearing a black open-collared shirt, and Ronja, who is blonde and wears a cream overshirt over a white top, sit in front of a poster for the film and speak to the camera
Nik Payne and Ronja spoke to BBC North West Tonight

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."

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