Brought to Cannes by Eccho Rights, Viaplay’s Conspiracy Of Silence, which focuses on corruption in the Swedish arms industry, was discovered by MIPTV delegates at a special screening on Monday night.
According to lead actor, Jens Hulten, the drama (8 x 45 mins) exposes how Sweden “sells arms while claiming to be a kind of Mother Teresa amongst countries. Obviously Sweden is not the only country that does that, and to be fair Sweden does genuinely try to do the right thing as a society, but ultimately, as the original Swedish title says, we all have blood on our hands.”
The story is loosely based on reality, said director Charlotte Brandstrom: “The big issues of the series are the search for the truth behind the arms industry, which is much more complex than Jens’ character expects, and whether the human race really wants peace when there is tolerance of such a huge and powerful arms industry whose core business is war and death.”
The action revolves around Hulten’s character Robert Kastell who, having become heavily involved in the Swedish arms trade as a young man, flees the industry in fear of his life, and then turns up 25 years later working in a Jordanian refugee camp, before embarking on a journey of revenge. “When I read the script I was really drawn to the strength of the characters and the underlying story arc,” Brandstrom said.
“Alongside that, there are moral issues that affect all of us,” Hulten added. “And the fact that so-called corruption is a much more nuanced and subtle thing than any of us might imagine or believe. Ultimately it’s a very human story about the search for truth.”
This article was written by Gary Smith for the MIPTV News magazine, and edited by Kristine Clifford. Read all MIPTV publications online here…
You can also watch an interview with Hulten and Brandstrom here, in the MIPTV Show!
