Göran Hugo Olsson's new documentary to premiere at Venice

Göran Hugo Olsson’s new feature documentary, Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989, will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Three Swedish co-productions are also set for Venice: Quiet Life, Songs of Slow Burning Earth and O.

 – At seventeen my life changed completely after seeingVivre sa vie. And at the top of the film there was short logo of the Venice Film Festival. Since then it has been my symbol of not only great art, but a hope of the possibility to live your life. I’m so happy that we’re a small part of that notion now, thanks to the celebration of film on Lido, says director Göran Hugo Olsson. 

During the years 1958 to 1989 there was a public service monopoly in Sweden, and the public broadcaster SVT’s reporting from Israel and Palestine was unique. Their reporters were constantly present in the war-affected region, documenting everything from everyday life to international crises. This extensive treasure trove of footage makes up the material for Göran Hugo Olsson’s new film, where footage of the rise of the Israeli state is interwoven with the Palestinian struggle for independence. News coverage with Yasser Arafat and interviews with Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban during a visit to Sweden are parts of exclusive archive material that has not been shown since first broadcast. Combined, they tell the story of a changed media landscape and give us tools to understand a conflict that has affected our time like few others. 

Director and producer Göran Hugo Olsson's previous films include Billy Paul documentary Am I Black Enough for You, festival hit The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (Sundance winner for Best Editing and AAFCA winner for Best Documentary), Berlinale winner Concerning Violence (narrated by Lauryn Hill) and The Society of the Spectacle (co-directed with Roxy Farhat).

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 –  which will have its world premiere int the Official Selection, Out of Competition – is produced by Tobias Janson / Story, in co-production with SVT, Film i Väst, Tekele Production and Ström Pictures, with support from the Swedish Film Institute, former Documentary Film Commissioner Juan Pablo Libossart. Folkets Bio handles domestic distribution with a Swedish theatrical release set for October 4; international sales by Reservoir Docs.

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Swedish co-productions at Venice:

Quiet Life by Alexandros Avranas – Orizzonti

Sergei and Natalia are political asylum-seekers who fled to Sweden with their two daughters, hoping for a new life. When their application is rejected, their youngest daughter, traumatised, falls into a coma, a condition known as apathy. Greek director Alexandros Avranas' film, set in Sweden and partly shot in Göteborg, stars Chulpan Khamatova and Grigory Dobrygin, with Swedish actors Lena Endre, Johannes Kuhnke and Anna Bjelkerud rounding out the cast. Produced by Les Films du Worso, Swedish co-producers: Olivier Guerpillon and Frida Hallberg / Fox in the Snow, and Film i Väst, with support from the Swedish Film Institute, Feature Film Commissioner Hanna Lejonqvist. TriArt Film handles domestic distribution; international sales by Elle Driver.

Songs of Slow Burning Earth by Olha Zhurba – Official Selection (Out of Competition)

An audiovisual diary of Ukraine’s immersion into the abyss of the first two years of Russia's full invasion, made up of places, occasional characters, rare dialogues, intraframe sounds and silences which, when put together, capture the chronology of how the war became normalised. Against the backdrop of this (meta)physical landscape of collective disaster, a new generation of Ukrainians aspires to imagine the future. Ukrainian filmmaker Olha Zhurba's documentary is produced by Moon Man Productions, Swedish co-producers Kerstin Übelacker / We Have a Plan and Film i Skåne, with support from the Swedish Film Institute, Documentary Film Commissioner Anna Weitz.  

O by Rúnar Rúnarsson – Orizzonti Corti

Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson recently opened the Un certain regard section at Cannes with When the Light Breaks; his new short film O, starring Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, is a humanistic and poetic story of a fragile man trying to achieve a simple task where his main obstacle is within himself. Produced by Compass Films; Swedish co-producer Siri Hjorton Wagner / [sic] film with SVT and Film i Väst, with support from the Swedish Film Institute, former Film Commissioner Ami Ekström.

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The 81st annual Venice International Film Festival will be held from 28 August to 7 September.

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