In 1984, the Swedish mining company Boliden had toxic waste shipped to Chile, where it was supposed to be properly processed. In reality, some of the waste was dumped on the outskirts of the desert town of Arica. The consequences were severe: in the years that followed, residents developed cancer and many babies were born with birth defects.

Lars Edman was born in Chile and grew up in the Swedish village of Boliden, where the mining company had originally been established. The 2009 film Toxic Playground, in which he and co-director William Johansson Kalén first drew attention to the disaster, prompted a lawsuit against Boliden. This case is central to Arica, which also features some familiar figures from the previous film.

Jocelyn, then a young girl, has since named her first child after the filmmakers. Rolf Svedberg, who as Boliden’s former head of environmental issues was partly responsible for shipping the toxic waste, and who previously traveled with the filmmakers to Arica to face the consequences of that decision, is in a predicament. Boliden wants him to testify on its behalf, yet he also appears in clips from Toxic Playground, which the plaintiffs are presenting as evidence against the company.

Get involved!

And follow the latest in the community's fight for justice

Read more at toxicjustice.org

Follow the lastest from the team on Facebook. 

NEXT SCREENINGS

William Johansson
William Johansson Kalén

Director, Producer

Lars Edman
Lars Edman

Director

Andreas Rocksén
Andreas Rocksén

Producer

script and direction LARS EDMAN and WILLIAM JOHANSSON KALÉN produced by ANDREAS ROCKSÉN and WILLIAM JOHANSSON KALÉN co-produced by HANNE PHLYPO, ANDY JONES, ELLIE SMITH, KARL EMIL RIKARDSEN, JOSÉ MIGUEL GARRIDO dop WILLIAM JOHANSSON KALÉN sound engineer LARS EDMAN editing GÖRAN GESTER, WILLIAM JOHANSSON KALÉN animation JOHAN LINDSTRÖM
 music composed and performed by PER-HENRIK MÄENPÄÄ production LAIKA FILM & TELEVISION in co-production with CLIN D’OEIL FILMS, RADIO FILM, RELATION04 MEDIA, ARICADOC, SVT, RTBF and FILMPOOL NORD with the support of THE SWEDISH FILM INSTITUTE, FILM I VÄSTERBOTTEN, THE SWEDISH ARTS GRANTS COMMITTEE, FILM I STOCKHOLM/FILMBASEN, NORDNORSK FILMSENTER,THE BERTHA FOUNDATION, THE SOLBERGA FOUNDATION, IUCN, NORDIC FILM & TV FUND and CREATIVE EUROPE PROGRAMME OF THE EUROPEAN UNION INTERNATIONAL distribution LIGHTDOX