Documenting a year in the life of two kindergartners, this film shows how formative early interpersonal experiences can be.

Haakon and Balder, two Norwegian boys, discover the world together in kindergarten. Director Gunhild Westhagen Magnor accompanies the two two-year-olds for a whole year in her film "Budding Humans." One of the children is her own son. 

The two boys' growing up is observed with uncommented images and shows intimate moments of closeness and exclusion, arguments and trust. The caregivers teach the children important values such as empathy and conflict resolution—skills that will shape how they go through life as adults.

The starting point for the film was the question of how an innocent child could become a mass murderer. The Norwegian director became a mother while the trial of Utøya attacker Anders Breivik was underway.
 

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SAT 03.01.2026 – 11:03 UTC
SAT 03.01.2026 – 22:03 UTC
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