Most People Don’t Know These 5 Movies Were Filmed In North Dakota

Alright, let’s admit it: North Dakota isn’t exactly Hollywood. There haven’t been many movies filmed here, in fact, after you take out the documentaries about the state or events in the state itself, you’re left with just these five. And one of them is technically a documentary, just not about North Dakota. I find this kind of surprising. I mean, wouldn’t it be awesome for a western to be filmed in the badlands? And we have plenty of perfectly picturesque small towns that would be great for those feel-good story movies.

In any case, there have indeed been some movies filmed in the Peace Garden State that you might not have heard of, and here they are along with a little bit of information about the filming of each:

rockofadgs/Flickr

This one is kind of a given, but also kind of not. Absolutely zero scenes in Fargo were filmed in the actual city itself. There was only one scene actually set in Fargo but it wasn't filmed there. Most of the filming was done in and around Minneapolis.

So what scenes were filmed in North Dakota? There were indeed scenes filmed here, but they were pretending to be Minnesota in the movie itself. Here's where ND got its time to shine: the Paul Bunyan statue shots. They built the statue specifically for the movie somewhat north of Grand Forks. It never existed in real Brainerd where a majority of the movie is set.

Fun tidbit: despite the total lack of filming in the city of Fargo, the wood chipper prop from the movie can be found at the visitor's center there. You can take a picture with it while pushing a prop leg down into it, if you'd like.

I almost feel as though this one is kind of cheating, but it technically counts. Wooly Boys was actually a movie produced and funded by the North Dakota government in order to try and drive tourism to the state. The story takes place in the southwest, primarily the badlands, about sheep farmers there. A majority of the movie was filmed in and around Medora. It didn't end up being quite the big hit that the governor was hoping for, and essentially flopped. But that's not to say it is a bad movie; that is in the eye of the beholder.

Film Fan/Wikimedia

This film, a road trip drama, was actually produced by a British filmmaker, Andrea Arnold. It was released this May at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Most of the North Dakota filming took place in Williston and the actor Shia LaBeouf was actually hospitalized there when he was injured on set.

Bovineboy2008/Wikimedia

Now this one you probably haven't heard of, and that's because it isn't an American film. It is Croatian, but it is set and was filmed in North Dakota. It is an emotional story of the friendship between two men from Bosnia who moved to North Dakota and met each other there. If you'd like to watch it, don't worry - it's in English!

Leonard^Bloom/Wikimedia

This documentary follows the church life of a group of kids mostly from southern states like Missouri. The parts that were filmed in North Dakota were set in the Kids On Fire School of Ministry, a Christian summer camp that used to be located just outside of Devils Lake. The camp has since closed after the release of the movie in 2006 due to controversy. It was nominated for an Academy Award.

Some of the documentaries filmed in the state include Flight of the Red Tail, Northern Lights, and White Earth, among others. Here are a few movies with stories set in North Dakota but no actual filming done in the state, just for fun: Dakota (featuring John Wayne), Three Faces West (also with John Wayne), and two horror films: Leprechaun and The Messengers.