Cold Case Hammarskjöld
In 1961, United Nations secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld’s plane mysteriously crashed, killing Hammarskjöld and most of the crew. With the case still unsolved 50-plus years later, Danish journalist, filmmaker, and provocateur Mads Brügger (The Red Chapel, The Ambassador) leads us down an investigative rabbit hole to unearth the truth. Scores of false starts, dead ends, and elusive interviews later, Brügger and his sidekick, Swedish Göran Björkdahl, begin to sniff out something more monumental than anything they’d initially imagined.
In his signature agitprop style, Brügger becomes both filmmaker and subject, challenging the very nature of truth by “performing” the role of truth seeker. As Brügger uncovers a critical secret that could send shockwaves around the world, we realize that sometimes absurdity and irony are the emboldening ingredients needed to confront what’s truly sinister.
Technical Specifications
Year 2019
Length 128 min
Language English, French, Bemba, Swedish, Danish
Production company Wingman Media, Piraya Film, Laika Film & Television, in coproduction with Associate Directors
Production country Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium
Sales/Distribution International Sales: DR Sales.
Website facebook.com/ColdCaseHammarskjold
IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9352780/
Awards
Directing Award, World Cinema Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2019
Directing Award, International Competition, One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Prague, 2019
Golden Butterfly Award, Camera Justitia competition, Movies that Matter Festival, The Hague, 2019
It’s All True Trophy; Best Feature or Medium-Length Documentary, International Competition, It’s All True International Documentary Film Festival, Brazil, 2019
Honorary Mention, Nordic/Docs Award, Nordic/Docs, Fredrikstad 2019
Special Mention, Bydgoszcz ART.DOC Award, Millennium Docs Against Gravity Festival 2019;
World Documentary Audience Award, Cinetopia Film Festival 2019
Best Documentary Award; Greenwich International Film Festival 2019
Best Documentary Feature Award, Lighthouse International Film Festival 2019
ARRI/OSRAM Award – Special Mention, Munich Film Festival 2019
Festivals
2019
World Cinema Documentary Competition, Sundance Film Festival (World Premiere)
Nordic Documentary Competition, Göteborg Film Festival
Official selection, True/False Film Fest, Columbia, Missouri
International Competition, Human International Documentary Festival, Oslo
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Prague
Movies That Matter Festival, The Hague
Docville International Documentary Film Festival, Leuwen
It’s All True International Documentary Film Festival, Sao Paulo
Istanbul Film Festival
Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison
Hot Docs International Documentary Festival, Toronto
The Norwegian Documentary Film Festival
DocLands Documentary Film Festival
Montclair Film Festival
Maryland Film Festival
BELDOCS International Documentary Film Festival
Nordic Docs
Cinetopia Film Festival
NorthwestFest
Docs Against Gravity Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
DocsBarcelona International Documentary Film Festival
Chicago Critics Film Festival
Mammoth Lakes Film Festival
DocAviv, Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival
Transylvania International Film Festival
Greenwich International Film Festival
Oslo Pix
Lighthouse International Film Festival
Encounters South African International Documentary Festival
Biografilm Festival
AFI DOCS
Nantucket Film Festival
Munich International Film Festival
New Zealand International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival
Durban International Film Festival
Stony Brooks Film Festival
Traverse City Film Festival
Melbourne International Film Festival
Dokufest Prizren
Lemesos International Documentary Film Festival
Sidewalk Film Festival
Victoria Independent Film and Video Festival
Venice Days
Baltic Sea Docs
Helsinki International Film Festival
AJB DOC Film Festival
Reykjavik International Film Festival
Reykjavík International Film Festival
Lusaka International Film and Music Festival
Bergen International Film Festival
IFI Documentary Festival
Zurich Film Festival
BFI London Film Festival
Brisbane Film Festival
Milwaukee Film Festival
Antenna Documentary Film Festival
Nordische Filmtage Lübeck
Leiden International Film Festival
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Cork Film festival
Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival
Ljubljana International Film Festival
LUX Film Festival
Africa Rising International Film Festival
Human Rights Film Festival
Fast Forward Human Rights Film Festival
See dfi.dk for updated/full festival list