An Interview With Amanda Kernell

Brace Your Heart is a translation of a phrase told to Sami reindeer herders. “It literally means make your heart harder,” says Amanda Kernell, whose third feature makes it World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The film tells the story Ejva (Elli Sara Valkeapaa), a young woman who is suddenly thrust into caring for the family’s reindeer herd in remote, northern Sweden after her father suddenly passes away. The practice is close to the heart of the Sami, and Ejva is determined to live up to the expectations of those around her. But following a violent assault, she must reassess her place in the community and what it will take, physically and emotionally, to endure.

“It’s something you say to young ranger herders,” the writer and director elaborates about the title. “Older people tell it to young people during herding [season] because that’s how you survive because life is gonna be tough. People will die, and the world is gonna be tough on you too.”

Indeed, Kernell’s beautifully shot film makes palpable the hardships herders face. From treacherously icy lakes to unrelenting snowstorms, reindeer herding isn’t for the faint of heart. And by utilizing actual non-actor herders in the lead roles and across the ensemble in making the film, it helped with a production that battled the elements. This was no routine studio film.

“Everything went wrong,” Kessel laughs. “I would not recommend [shooting] like this. But if you do, do it with reindeer herders. They’re all used to being on your own and solving things in a place where there’s no phone coverage and a lot of avalanches.”

The filmmaker’s determination fuelled her desire to bring to the screen the truth of the perils and challenges of herding. The years spent earning the trust of the community (Kessel’s father is Sami) is reflected in the detailed portrayal of raising reindeer and the dangers it involves. A sequence involving a snowmobile plunging through a lake was filmed on location, and animals were actually branded. This verisimilitude serves a larger purpose for Kessel. Brace Your Heart has larger ideas and questions on its mind as the filmmaker explores how trauma and identity reflect and refract amongst a tightly bonded group of people.

“If you’ve been through something traumatic or violent, what’s the alternative to leaving everything behind? Should you stay with the person who did this to you?” Kessel asks. “I guess a lot of people would say no. But I don’t think it’s that easy because what if you love this life?”

“So what can then liberate you?,” she continues. “Is it love? Is it the truth? Some people say it’s the truth because it actually liberates you inside yourself, because it changes the memory center in your brain if you put words [to it].”

Another central theme to the picture is — what’s the cost of letting something go and moving on? “A lot of people that have been through difficult times, storms in their lives, and found a way out on the other side, have been in this difficult choice of when should you confront and what should you forgive,” she says. “So it comes from wondering what should be forgiven and what if you live in a place where everything must be forgiven.”

Brace Your Heart doesn’t go for easy answers. The film traverses an emotionally terrain as rugged as the beautiful and lonely landscape it presents. But Kernell also wants viewers to take away some measure of hope from the film too. Elli Sara Valkeapaa watched the picture before its Toronto premiere, and she not only saw herself in Ejva, but learned something from the character too.

“ ‘This reminds me a lot of my life,’ ” Kernell says Elli told her. “ ‘And I think I’ve learned from Ejva to stand up more to my for myself.’ ”

Brace Your Heart plays in the Platform section at TIFF with international sales handled by TrustNordisk.