The screenings have been sold out, the interest was already great before the festival, and he has had to sit and give interviews non-stop.
I've never given so many interviews in such a short time. I'm extremely tired. But it's a relief to be able to speak Swedish, he says when TT meets him.
His film is an account of what was reported on Swedish Television about the Israel-Palestine conflict between 1958 and 1989. A number of well-known and unknown reporters pass in review, one of them being Arne Weise.
I had made three or four films in the USA where there were constantly problems with rights, says Göran Hugo Olsson about the prelude to the film.
Then I made a film in-house at SVT, where I could just use whatever I wanted. So I happened to see how much material there was on this topic, it was like a library. Everything seemed so fun and easy.
Took four years
Göran Hugo Olsson spent four years going through the material. He found producers and financiers who gave him confidence and trusted him, even though the director himself was not entirely clear on which direction the film would take.
I said "I don't know what this will become", he recounts.
It became more than three hours of film. And sometime this spring, the material will be released as a TV series in twelve 30-minute episodes.
Has going through the material changed his view of the conflict? His answer is no.
I've always had the same stance – Israel has the right to exist, but it's equally obvious that one shouldn't commit war crimes.
"Very negative"
He answers "no" just as clearly to the question of whether he believes there is a solution to the conflict.
There isn't one. I'm very negative about that.
Films like this are often shown at festivals around the world, but Göran Hugo Olsson won't be taking it on a festival tour.
Festivals mostly involve going on stage and saying the same thing over and over, and people in the audience asking the same questions over and over. It's a waste of time and the environment.
What he will do after this massive project, he doesn't know.
I had three projects, but I've put them all on hold. I'll have to crawl back to my American agent and say "do you have anything?"
Corrected: In an earlier version, the image caption was incorrect.
Age: 58 years.
Lives: In Stockholm.
Occupation: Director.
Previous films, selected: "Am I black enough for you?", "The black power mixtape 1967–1975", "About violence", "Fonko", "That summer".
Currently with: "Israel-Palestine on Swedish TV 1958–1989".
