Gåten Agnes (2022)

Agnes Waade was born in 1927 and never attended a day of school. On her first day of school, she had not yet started speaking and was thus categorised as "retarded". Agnes's mother was told to take her home again, and that there was no point in taking her to school anymore. No one had realised that Agnes was deaf, nor connected that she could not speak because she could not hear or imitate the sounds of others. Agnes stays at home, hidden away by her family, and working on the family farm for decades. During the 1980s, national Norwegian newspapers report on a hearing-impaired woman in her late 50s who is constantly running away from home, hiding and living wild in the nearby forests. Journalist Tore Strømøy is intrigued by the story and decides to investigate why this middle-aged lady is running away from home. What or who is she frightened of? What he discovers is a tragic story of a terrified lady who cannot communicate, does not feel safe in her own home, and goes to drastic measures to try to feel safe. In this documentary series, more than 30 years after he began his work, Tore tells Agnes's story, finally giving her a voice.