Concerning Violence

A feat of archival research and an essential piece of cinema, the second of its kind by Swedish director Göran Olsson (after his singular Black Power Mixtape), Concerning Violence narrates the events of nine African nationalist and independence movements in the 1960s and 1970s shot by Swedish filmmakers, which challenged colonial and white minority rule. The footage is overlaid by text from Frantz Fanon’s landmark book, The Wretched of the Earth, the title of the film taking on the title of the first chapter, Concerning Violence. Showing the ways colonialist thought is created and reproduced, Olsson bolts together a vital reminder of the crushed spirits and abused cultures that have created modern Europe, a murderous timeline that has done its best to ruin a continent still feared today. And maybe some of the footage will resonate, and maybe some of the words will sound pertinent.

Curator’s recommendation: while the film can be watched on its own, reading at least the first chapter of The Wretched of the Earth, Concerning Violence (available as a free PDF online) would supplement understanding.

Göran Olsson

2014

85 min

English dialogue