MOVIE REVIEW
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958 - 1989
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Genre: Documentary
Year Released: 2024
Runtime: 3h 26m
Director(s): Göran Hugo Olsson
Language: Hebrew, Swedish, English with English subtitles
Where To Watch: world premiere at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival

RAVING REVIEW: ISRAEL PALESTINE ON SWEDISH TV 1958-1989 reveals an astonishing account of the prolonged conflict between Israel and Palestine (even though some people are under this misunderstanding that this conflict only started in October of 2023.) Director Göran Hugo Olsson essays a 30-year history of media coverage. The series focuses on the Swedish public broadcaster SVT´s perspective and experiences throughout this era, during which massive geopolitical changes occurred. This unique perspective allows each side of this incredibly polarizing, seemingly irresolvable conflict to tell their story fully without bias. This authenticity — which extends to interviews with key figures and archival footage from Yasser Arafat and Abba Eban — gives viewers a solid grounding in the events that helped shape today's Middle East.

The film is most absorbing when revealing the changing stories of Israel and Palestine. In resurrecting decades-old footage, Olsson provides a way to look back at these historical events through new eyes. This is the film's greatest strength: it brings these two narratives together and forces this confrontation on viewers. This storytelling technique serves the dual purpose of informing and encouraging you to think about how this played out in its broader geopolitical context.

The media presence in the conflict was a regular theme for ISRAEL PALESTINE ON SWEDISH TV from 1958-1989. The result is a nuanced examination of the complicated ways journalism can observe and participate. That inquiry has new relevance today when news reporting and media advocacy are increasingly difficult to tell apart. The documentary — about the evolving nature of journalism and how it has impacted public perceptions of critical global issues over time — offers a valuable perspective on this.

The contemporary significance of ISRAEL PALESTINE ON SWEDISH TV is not to be taken lightly. In a time when more and more people seem to take violent actions like the ones of this war, Olsson presents a clear message pointing towards peace or at least an understanding. The very nature of this documentary makes it a crucial historical record for anyone looking at where power lies within media and how it changes history. The documentary paints a detailed picture of what happened in the past. Olsson also lifts the documentary beyond straightforward narration to create a compelling reflection on journalism as recording history.

This level of detail and desire to show both sides of the story allow the film to remain a complex depiction that challenges viewers to consider the contradictions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and does not resort to oversimplification by providing solutions like most mainstream media. The point of Swedish television as a lens to look at the conflict in this manner is unique and helps broaden our understanding of media and conflicts. This reminds us of the strong influence that the media has on the way we see the world. The film teaches and challenges viewers to think carefully about the information they receive and their sources.

The documentary’s power comes from engaging with an inherently complicated subject, not a simple one-or two-minute overview. Thanks to Olsson's dedicated effort in producing a complete, historical, and evenhanded documentary about this conflict, the film is one of the few resources for any student or citizen looking at that media-war-conflict relationship. It is an alarming call to arms about a media war and how well journalism needs to be taken care of in our globally networked.

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[photo courtesy of RESERVOIR DOCS, FILM I VÄST, STORY AB, NOISE FILM & TV]

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