Jessie Diggins shares an intimate look into her world in new film, 'Threshold'

NINA MOINI: A new film shares an intimate portrait of the country's most decorated cross-country skier, Jessie Diggins. It shows her tough resolve in competition and her determination to maintain her recovery from an eating disorder. Diggins has been open about going through a relapse in 2023. Last February, she talked to me about the importance of eating disorder education.

JESSIE DIGGINS: I think the more people who can hear that, wow, I'm not the only one. I'm not alone in this, that's a very empowering feeling, like, OK, I don't have to be alone in this. I can ask for help. I can have a care team by my side to walk me through this so this doesn't have to be so scary and so isolating.

NINA MOINI: Also around Jessie Diggins, as she worked to get back to a healthier place, were two filmmakers. Lars and Torsten Brinkema are brothers from Minneapolis. They created the new film Threshold, which is streaming now on Peacock. And they join me now from Italy to talk about it. Thanks for being here, guys.

LARS BRINKEMA: Thanks for having us.

NINA MOINI: Thank you very much for joining us still there in Italy. I'm sure it's been a wonderful experience. But, Torsten, tell me how this film came about. Was it always going to focus on this more personal side of Jessie Diggins?

TORSTEN BRINKEMA: No, not always. Lars and I actually got invited to a training camp of theirs in Bend, Oregon back in 2023. And we kind of went into it thinking, oh, let's make a documentary about this sport that we love so much. But, as things progressed and as we became closer friends with Jessie, she opened up to us about a relapse that she had that summer.

And, with her vulnerability and the story that she was willing to share, we figured this is the film that we have to make. This is the time factor to things that we care about and experiences that we've had. And now, it's come full circle.

NINA MOINI: I wonder, too, if it's something that you felt comfortable-- I'll stay with you for this, Torsten, but, obviously, you can both answer-- if it was something that you felt comfortable pursuing, this side of Jessie Diggins, and talking about an eating disorder. Because I suppose there's probably a lot of extra care that you'd have to take in making that type of a film.

TORSTEN BRINKEMA: Absolutely. And I think I was pretty daunted by representing this illness on film. I think it's such a stigmatized illness, and so we were kind of going into uncharted territory. But, honestly, I think just Jessie and the person that she is convinced us that this is something that we should pursue, and that this illness should be represented, and people should feel seen. And Lars and I had seen friends and family struggle with the same illness. And so we figured that we felt like we had to.

NINA MOINI: And, Lars, you all have been in the skiing scene and in college, a competitive ski scene. Do you feel like eating disorders are more common than are talked about within the sports community, just all sports?

LARS BRINKEMA: Yeah, totally. Up to 60% of athletes will have some sort of disordered eating within their life. And that number is so incredibly high. And it's even higher in endurance sports where it's force against your body weight-- you're running up hills or you're cycling up hills.

So it is very common. And it often happens in the high school years, where Jessie fell into these habits because she saw other people engaging in disordered eating and saw these people that she looked up to and said, if that's what they're doing, I need to do that because they're fast skiers. And I want to be like them.

NINA MOINI: With the Olympics, too, we, I think in the past, culturally, people have looked to athletes like they were invincible, like they must have no personal struggles. Parts of this film are quite vulnerable, Lars. Did you kind of let Jessie take the lead? Or was it a kind of a sitdown interview type of setting? How did you approach these topics?

LARS BRINKEMA: Yeah. So over the summer, as Torsten mentioned, we got very close with Jessie and made a plan that as we got onto the road with her in Europe, that we would do a sitdown check in every week or so. We'd talk about everything from racing, to her relationships, to how she's talking with her family and friends back home.

And I think we kind of let Jessie just take the lead on a lot of these interviews, especially during the season. We would always start with just asking her how she felt. And then I'd say, later on in the summer, the second summer, did our big master interview where we prepared everything talking about her past races and all the history behind Jessie Diggins, the skier.

NINA MOINI: And, Torsten, I know you guys are from Minnesota, right, but you live on opposite sides of the country now. You're 26. Lars, you're 22. Torsten, what was it like working together as brothers on this film?

TORSTEN BRINKEMA: Yeah, we're four years apart. And so we had a bit of distance when I went off to college in Maine. And I think we were looking for a way to reconnect. And I think it's such a beautiful thing that this film has given us, and that Jessie has given us, the opportunity to work together.

I think the chemistry that we have, both when we're filming, when we're editing, when we're directing, there's this kind of unspoken dialogue between us that we just trust each other and we complement each other in really amazing ways. That being said, I think the distance from Brooklyn to LA helps us when we're apart because it is really intense living with someone for six months on the road and sleeping two feet away from them at all times. So we had our fair share of arguments. But usually, it would just dissipate after 15 minutes and back to being brothers.

NINA MOINI: Well, when you're in that creative space, it does feel really high stakes, right? And so you were in Italy or you got to celebrate your work and see the Winter Olympics. And now, the film is out. What has that been like, Lars?

LARS BRINKEMA: Yeah, it's been an incredible, incredible month. Just a couple months ago, we got to partner with the Emily Program, which is the eating disorder treatment facility and awareness organization that's based out of Minnesota but has treatment centers all around the country. And so we got to partner with them and set up a whole impact campaign making sure that this film gets in front of the people that will truly benefit. And then, yeah, being able to come over to Italy to celebrate this film, and cheer on Jessie, and spend some quality time with her family in the stands has been, yeah, such an incredible end to this film.

NINA MOINI: And Jessie won a bronze medal, for folks, her fourth medal total. She said this is going to be her last Olympics. So she's been really vocal-- like I mentioned, we've talked to her about this before too-- but to have these kind of multiple legacies is really remarkable, and to be able to use a platform to help people. Torsten, what do you want people to take away from this film, athlete or not-- or folks who don't have experiences, maybe, with eating disorders or people who do?

TORSTEN BRINKEMA: Yeah, absolutely. I think we feel like it's such a blessing that we got to include our home state and our hometown in the film. And I don't want to give a spoiler away for folks, but I feel like Minneapolis in this film really represents a sense of community and hope. And I think in these times, and in the city that we grew up in, we could all use a little bit more community and hope.

And so I think whether you struggle with a mental illness or not, this film is for you. And I think it can bring a little joy into people's lives.

NINA MOINI: Lars, same question to you.

LARS BRINKEMA: Yeah. Jessie is such this vessel. She's this incredible athlete, incredible woman that still has these problems that everyday people have. And to be able to see that on such a raw and unfiltered manner, I think we've done private screenings for this film over the last month, and just see the hope and the inspiration that Jessie brings to these people has been so incredible.

NINA MOINI: Streaming on Peacock now. Lars and Torsten, thank you both so much for coming by Minnesota Now and sharing about this important topic and the film. Really appreciate you both.

LARS BRINKEMA: Thanks for having us.

TORSTEN BRINKEMA: Thank you, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Thank you. Lars and Torsten Brinkema are the creators of a new film about Minnesotan and skiing star Jessie Diggins. It's called Threshold, and it is streaming on Peacock. If you or a loved one is struggling with an eating disorder, help is available. You can call the National Alliance for Eating Disorders at 1-866-662-1235.