Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989a new documentary by Swedish director Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, Regarding violence) will have its world premiere in the out-of-competition programming of the Venice Film Festival later this week. Now, the first trailer for the three-hour found footage documentary has been released.
It offers a first look at the stories and voices of both sides of the long-running conflict. “Hidden in the vaults of Swedish television for decades are hundreds of hours of previously unseen footage,” the trailer also notes.
“During the years 1958 to 1989, the Swedish public broadcaster SVT's reporting from Israel and Palestine was unique. Their reporters were constantly present in the war-torn region, documenting everything from daily life to international crises,” according to a synopsis of the film. “This vast trove of footage forms the material for Göran Hugo Olsson's new film, in which footage of the rise of the Israeli state is intertwined with the Palestinian struggle for independence. Media coverage with Yasser Arafat and interviews with Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban during a visit to Sweden are pieces of exclusive archive material that have not been shown since the first broadcast. Together, they tell the story of a changed media landscape and offer a means of understanding a conflict that has shaped our time like few others.”
Olsson said working on the documentary was difficult. “This is by far the most painful film I – we – have ever made, and five years in the making, it has sadly become heartbreakingly timely,” he said. “Although the material has been an absolute pleasure to work with, beautiful images with incredibly interesting characters mixed with human testimony and geopolitical events – the course of history becomes more and more heartbreaking. We really tried to show respect to both the filmmakers and the participants, with the perhaps antiquated intent of promoting notions of peace and understanding.”
The film was produced by Story AB, with Sweden's Film i Väst, Finland's Tekele Productions and Denmark's Ström Pictures as co-producers. International sales, excluding North America, are being handled by Paris-based Reservoir Docs.
Producer Tobias Janson of Story AB noted that Sweden's position between the two Cold War blocs helped Swedish TV obtain a “wealth of footage from this 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 discussed the subject. Today, its relevance is undeniable.”
The world premiere of Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 is scheduled for Venice this Friday at 3:00 PM local time.
Watch the trailer below.