"I took an enormous risk… Me, and my colleagues, we take those risks every day because we believe that journalism is a force for good." Screen Daily has released the first teaser trailer for a film titled 438 Days, which is still in production but still looking for international attention. The film is based on the true story of two Swedish journalists who were locked up for 438 days in Ethiopia inside the notorious Kality prison in Addis Ababa, after being tried as terrorists even though they were just there as journalists trying to report on the hunt for oil effecting the local population. Gustaf Skarsgård and Matias Varela star as Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson, who later wrote a book about this. The full cast also includes Fredrik Evers, Josefin Neldén, Philip Zandén, Faysal Ahmed, and Jesper Ganslandt. This is only a teaser with a tiny bit of footage, but it looks quite good - real and intense and raw. I'm intrigued to see more. Take a look.
Here's the first teaser trailer for Jesper Ganslandt's 438 Days, direct from Screen Daily's YouTube:
On the eve of June 28th, 2011, Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson put everything at stake by illegally crossing the border from Somalia into Ethiopia. They wanted to report on how the ruthless hunt for oil effected the population of the isolated and conflict-ridden Ogaden region. Five days later they lay wounded in the desert sand, shot and captured by the Ethiopian army. But when their initial report died, another story began. A story about lawlessness, propaganda and global politics. After a Kafkaesque trial they were sentenced to eleven years in prison for terrorism. They were pardoned and released after 438 days - this is their story of 438 days of hell. 438 Days is directed by Swedish filmmaker / writer Jesper Ganslandt, director of the films Falkenberg Farewell, The Ape, Blondie, Jimmie, and Beast of Burden previously. The screenplay is written by Peter Birro, based on Schibbye & Persson's 2013 book about the experience. This film is still in production in South Africa, heading to AFM this month. No release date has been set yet aside from a late 2019 opening only in Sweden. Stay tuned for more. First impression?
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