Arica

country, year

Sweden, 2020

genre

documentary

running time

97’

directed by

Lars Edman, William Johansson Kalén

languages

Spanish, Swedish, English

subtitles 

Slovene subtitles

about the film

In 1984, the Swedish mining company Boliden exports 20 000 tonnes of toxic waste to the Chilean desert town of Arica to be properly treated. In reality, part of the waste was dumped on the outskirts of the desert town of Arica. The consequences of this toxic colonialism have been severe: thousands of people have fallen ill and many have died of cancer. The film takes us inside a landmark corporate liability trial, which begins when Lars Edman and co-director William Johansson uncover the story. The filmmakers have followed the Arica community for 15 years and the film reveals how decisions made decades ago in Europe still affect people in South America.  Arica is a personal journey, a courtroom drama and the story of an affected community fighting for justice against a multinational company desperate to clear its name.

what was said about the film 

“We’ve been on the ground there for 15 years, meeting families, meeting people. They are always in the back of our minds, because they were also following the legal procedures. This meant so much to them: their hopes, their dreams and their wishes for a better future. I do feel honoured to be part of their life, hopefully representing them in some way. But it’s been tough. /…/ When we hear the word ‘justice,’ when people and companies go to court, we expect that they will be playing on the same, level field. But with the kind of resources that a company like Boliden has, as you see in the film, they can produce any kind of arguments they want, with help from experts. And that just makes you question the whole setup, the whole system.”

– Lars Edman for Variety 

trailer

about the author

Lars Edman was born in Chile and grew up in the Swedish village of Boliden, where the mining company had originally been established. Lars now lives in the north of Norway, working as a speech and language therapist. 

William Johansson Kalén has worked as a director, producer, DoP and editor since 2006. He is a producer and shareholder of Laika Film. 

Lars and William worked together on the first documentary about Arica, Toxic Playground, which went on to win 6 international awards, screened all over the world and prompted a lawsuit against Boliden. The filmmakers stayed in touch with the community over the course of 15 years, working on this story.

festivals and awards

IDFA 2020

DocsBarcelona 2021

Filmography

– Blybarnen (2010)

– Arica (2020)