EXCLUSIVE: Sometimes an outside perspective can provide important insight on a seemingly intractable problem.
Such arguably is the case with coverage of the Israeli Palestinian conflict by Sweden’s national television service. For decades, SVT chronicled developments in that geopolitical tinderbox, interviewing key players including PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban and many others. Award-winning filmmaker Göran Hugo Olsson reaches back into SVT’s rich archive for his new documentary Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989. The feature, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year, will hold its premiere theatrical engagement at New York City’s Film Forum beginning October 10, followed by cities nationwide.
We have your first look at the documentary in the trailer above.
Icarus Films
“Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958–1989 is the definitive cinematic account of the background to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through unique and immersive footage,” notes a synopsis. “Long buried in the vaults of the Swedish Broadcast company/SVT archives, the film demonstrates how one country’s media perceived one of the world’s longest conflicts.
“This extensive footage makes up the material for the archival chronicler Göran Hugo Olsson’s (The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, Concerning Violence) new film, where footage of the rise of the Israeli state is interwoven with the Palestinian struggle for independence.”
Olsson, a native of Lund, Sweden, has been making films for over 30 years, beginning with 1992’s Kl:k.
Director Göran Hugo Olsson attends a photo call for ‘Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958–1989 (Israel Palestina på svensk TV 1958–1989)’ at the 81st Venice Film Festival on August 30, 2024.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
“This is by far the most painful film that I – we – have ever done and five years in the making, it has unfortunately become heartbreakingly timely,” Olsson writes in a director’s statement. “While the material has been an absolute delight to work with, beautiful images with incredibly interesting characters mixed with human testimonies and geopolitical events—the course of history becomes increasingly agonizing. We have really tried to show respect to both the originators of the footage and the participants, with the perhaps outmoded intent to promote notions such as peace and understanding.”
Olsson continues, “People ask me if the project or I changed after October 7. But it hasn’t. I still dislike both Hamas and Netanyahu as much as I did a year ago.”
In addition to Venice, the film has screened at festivals around the world, among them CPH:DOX in Copenhagen, the BFI London Film Festival, Kosmorama Trondheim International Film Festival in Norway, Doc Aviv in Tel Aviv, the Tokyo International Film Festival, and the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
“This monumental documentary filters over 30 years of public service broadcasting archive, creating a portrait of how the Middle East conflict was reported in Sweden,” BFI London Film Festival’s Sarah Lutton wrote in the festival program. “Göran Hugo Olsson’s epic panorama of violence, disaster and political oration is woven together with reflective sequences that provide an evolving perspective that’s all too timely for the West today.”
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 is written and directed by Göran Hugo Olsson and narrated by actress Pernilla August. Tobias Janson produced the film; co-producers are Asta Dalman for Axel Arnö/SVT; Kristina Börjeson for Film i Väst; Miia Haavisto and Marja Pihlaja for Tekele Productions; and Monica Hellström for Ström Pictures.
Britta Norell edited the film. The music was composed by Gary Nilsson.
Watch the trailer for Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 above.
