“This could either be the world’s biggest murder mystery, or the world’s most idiotic conspiracy theory.” And with that sentence, the first trailer for the upcoming documentary “Cold Case Hammarskjöld” begins.
As seen in the footage, “Cold Case Hammarskjöld” is one of the more unusual, and thus, interesting, films you’ll likely see all year. Told by Danish journalist and filmmaker Mads Brügger, the film follows the story of United Nations secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld and his untimely death following a mysterious plane crash in 1961. Many argue that the crash was an assassination of Hammarskjöld, as the politician was an outspoken advocate for the independence of Congo. This was actually opposed by many of Europe’s mining companies and other powerful folks.
“Cold Case Hammarskjöld” attempts to investigate this story in ways that have never been done before, and along the way, armed with a Swedish private investigator, Brügger blends the genres of documentary with traditional narrative features, blurring the lines of journalist and provocateur.
The film made its debut earlier this year at Sundance. In our review, we said, “Brügger’s movie plays mostly like a real-time thriller, to be honest, but whatever hybrid of non-fiction you want to categorize ‘Cold Case Hammarskjöld,’ it’s nothing short of groundbreaking.”
“Cold Case Hammarskjöld” is set to arrive in theaters on August 16.
Here’s the synopsis:
In 1961, United Nations secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld’s plane mysteriously crashed, killing Hammarskjöld and most of the crew. It’s understood that because Hammarskjöld was, at the time, advocating for Congo’s independence (against the wishes of European mining companies and other powerful entities), the “crash” was an assassination. 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. He, his Swedish private-investigator sidekick, and a host of co-conspirators tirelessly pursue a winding trail of clues, but they turn up more mysteries than revelations. Scores of false starts, dead ends, and elusive interviews later, they begin to sniff out something more monumental than anything they’d initially imagined.
