Documentary maker William Johansson Kalén is upset about Bolidens complaints against the lawyers of Arica Victims. The documentary Arica recently premiered and the film deals with the lawsuit following Bolidens dumping of arsenic dust in the Chilean town Arica in the 1980’s. One of the filmmakers, William Johansson Kalén, claims Boliden has gone after the lawyers of the Arica-side and that this could have major consequences. – You don’t come across these kinds of cases very often and it’s an incredible sacrifice the lawyers make by taking them on the terms that if win, they get paid and otherwise they get nothing. It

This week, the film about the victims of the toxic waste scandal in Chilean Arica premiered in Amsterdam. At the same time, Boliden sent a letter to the Arica lawyers stating that the Swedish lawyers themselves may be sued for the legal costs of more than 40 million Swedish crowns. It is through the documentary that SVT initially received the information that Boliden had threatened to sue the Arica side's lawyers. - They report that they have not been reimbursed for legal costs, just over 40 million crowns, and that they reserve the right to make claims for damages corresponding to these

IDFA 2020: Toxic Avengers By Nick Cunningham Following on from their Toxic Playground (2009), directors William Johansson Kalén and Lars Edman return to the Chilean town of Arica to continue their investigation into the poisoning of the town people, caused by Swedish waste dumped there in 1984. But this time the town has lawyers fighting its corner. Arica world premieres in IDFA Frontlight. In the Swedish town of Skellefteå resides the Boliden company, one of the biggest mining concerns in the world, we are told. Many of the Swedish townsfolk have much to thank the company for. It brought both wealth and prosperity to the area, guaranteed

"Justice Is Very Complicated’: How the ‘Arica’ Team Fought the Good Fight on Two Continents When Lars Edman and William Johansson Kalén were at film school together they had no idea how long it took to make a movie. “We didn’t have any idea,” laughs Kalén. “I remember watching a film that took three years to make, and I was thinking, ‘Oh, shit. Three years? That’s a hell of a long time. Couldn’t they have finished it a bit quicker?’” Now, as the duo make their IDFA debut with the world premiere of their second feature-length doc “Arica” in Frontlight, they

Milka in front of her daughter’s grave. "Farming, hospitals and households all create toxic waste, not to mention industry in general. But how can we safely dispose of this pollution and prevent it from ending up in the ground, water supply – or even the air we breathe?. In 1984 Swedish mining conglomerate Boliden started shipping their toxic detritus to Chile. The mammoth smelting factory of Skelleftea created arsenic, lead and mercury and all this was dumped in the northern town of Arica. Thousands of local people, particularly children, went on to suffer cancer, birth defects and neurological complaints unaware of the

"How did a Swedish mining giant destroy thousands of lives in a Chilean desert town? The answer is in Lars Edman and William Johansson Kalén's new documentary. Jocelyn and Lars William, named after the filmmakers Viewers might be shocked, angry or both after watching Lars Edman and William Johansson Kalén's powerful documentary Arica, which had its world premiere in the Frontlight section of this year's International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). Before working on Arica, the directing duo met in a film school in Chile and already tackled the same scandal ten years ago, with their directorial debut Toxic Playground. The film,

Laika Film has entered a sales deal for ARICA with the Swiss-based Lightdox. Lightdox is a recently founded World Sales, Distribution and Marketing Agency run by some very experienced people in the field of international distribution. The company defines itself as a promoter of “films with the capacity to push the limits of perception, question important topics and move the audience deeply”.  We are very glad to collaborate with Lightdox! Lightdox is a small sales agent that shows great commitment to our film and whose profile fits perfectly for this kind of topic, says producer Andreas Rocksén. 

William Johansson Kalén’s and Lars Edman’s documentary about the struggle for justice in the Chilean desert town Arica has been selected to have its world premiere at IDFA (International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam). The festival is the world’s largest, most prestigious documentary film festival. ARICA will be presented in the “Frontlight”-section. For 15 years Johansson Kalén and Edman have been following the case where the Swedish mining company Boliden is suspected of having acted negligent when it dumped 20 000 of tonnes of toxic sludge close to a poor neighborhood in Arica in the mid-80’s. The pile of toxic waste brought severe consequences

‘Arica’ which world premiered at IDFA (International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam) is planned to have its Swedish premiere at Folkets Bio the 12 th of March 2021.  This film by Lars Edman and William Johansson Kalén is an independent sequel to “Toxic Playground” dealing with the consequences when rich countries ship waste abroad.  In this documentary film, set ten years after the first one, we get to follow the residents of desert town Arica who take the multinational company Boliden to Swedish court to seek justice.  Read more about the movie at: https://www.folketsbio.se/film/arica/