Israel-Palestine on Swedish television 1958-1989a new documentary by Swedish director Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, About violence) will celebrate its world premiere outside of competition later this week at the Venice Film Festival. The first trailer for the three-hour documentary with archive material has now been released.
It offers a first glimpse into stories and voices from both sides of the long-running conflict. “Hidden for decades in the archives of Swedish television, hundreds of hours of unpublished footage,” the trailer continues.
“From 1958 to 1989, the Swedish public broadcaster SVT’s coverage of Israel and Palestine was unique. Its reporters were constantly present in the war-torn region, documenting everything from everyday life to international crises,” says a synopsis of the film. “This extensive film treasure forms the material for Göran Hugo Olsson’s new film, which interweaves footage of the rise of the Israeli state with the Palestinian struggle for independence. The coverage of Yasser Arafat and interviews with Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban during a visit to Sweden are part of the exclusive archive material that has not been shown since its original broadcast. Together they tell the story of a changing media landscape and offer a tool for understanding a conflict that has influenced our times like no other.”
Olsson said working on the documentary was difficult. “This is by far the most painful film I – we – have ever made and after five years of production it has unfortunately become heartbreakingly topical,” he said. “Although the material was an absolute pleasure to work with, beautiful images with incredibly interesting characters mixed with human testimonies and geopolitical events – the course of history becomes increasingly agonising. We really tried to be respectful both to the creators of the footage and to those involved, with the perhaps outdated intention of promoting ideas such as peace and understanding.”
The film was produced by Story AB, with co-producers from Sweden’s Film i Väst, Finland’s Tekele Productions and Denmark’s Ström Pictures. International distribution (excluding North America) is handled by Paris-based Reservoir Docs.
Producer Tobias Janson of Story AB stressed that Sweden’s location between the two Cold War blocs helped Swedish television obtain “a wealth of footage from that period, along with images of places and people rarely seen elsewhere.” He concluded: “When we started working on this film five years ago, it was difficult to generate interest; not many people were discussing the subject. Today, its relevance is undeniable.”
The world premiere of Israel-Palestine on Swedish television 1958-1989 is scheduled for this Friday at 3 p.m. local time in Venice.
Watch the trailer below.
