''Something Happened'' ( sv, Någonting har hänt) is a Swedish film directed by

Roy Andersson Roy Arne Lennart Andersson (born 31 March 1943) is a Swedish film director, best known for ''A Swedish Love Story'' (1970), '' About Endlessness'' (2019) and his "Living trilogy," which includes '' Songs from the Second Floor'' (2000), '' You, ...

. The film was conceived as an

educational film An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods. History Determining which videos should count as the first educational films ...

about

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, but raised controversy and was withdrawn. The film claims that

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

was developed in American military laboratories, and that its well-established African origin is a cover-up conspiracy by the Americans. Today the film is regarded as a significant step in the development of the style seen in the director's later and more acclaimed films.

Production

In 1986, the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare contracted

to write and direct an information film about

to be shown in Swedish schools and to military

conscripts Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

. At the time, Andersson had not made a film since the financially unsuccessful ''

Giliap ''Giliap'' is a 1975 Swedish drama film directed by Roy Andersson, starring Thommy Berggren as a man who takes a job as a waiter at a run-down hotel. It was a financial and critical failure, and it led to Andersson's not making another feature fil ...

'' from 1975, and had since then mainly worked with television commercials. Before the film was finished, however, the Board asked Andersson to abandon the project. The board had seen the finished parts and questioned Andersson's sources, and were also sceptical about the overall approach and tone of the film. Andersson continued to work on the project on his own and eventually finished it. The film introduces what would become the director's signature style, with static camera and long takes featuring hand-picked amateur actors in grim make-up. The style had been hinted at in ''Giliap'' and was developed further in Andersson's commercials, later to be even more refined in the feature films '' Songs from the Second Floor'' and ''

You, the Living ''You, the Living'' ( sv, Du levande) is a 2007 Swedish black comedy-drama film written and directed by Roy Andersson. The film is an exploration of the "grandeur of existence," centered on the lives of a group of individuals, such as an overweigh ...

''.

HIV origin theory

In the film, Andersson strongly criticises the widespread theory of

's origin in Africa. Included are scenes featuring scientists promoting this theory in ways which make them appear as incompetent and racist, and the theory highly unlikely. Andersson instead suggests that the virus had its origin in American military laboratories, and that the African origin is a part of a conspiracy by the Americans. The theory the film supports was later revealed to be an invention by the East German security service

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

, with the intention to discredit the

western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

Release

Following the positive reception of Andersson's 1991 short film ''

World of Glory ''World of Glory'' is a 1991 Cinema of Sweden, Swedish short film written and directed by Roy Andersson. Its original Swedish title is ''Härlig är jorden'', which means "Lovely is the Earth", and is the Swedish title of the hymn "Fairest Lord Jes ...

'', ''Something Happened'' was in 1993 screened at a number of international film festivals, where it received several awards.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Roy Andersson AIDS origin hypotheses Documentary films about conspiracy theories Films directed by Roy Andersson HIV/AIDS in film Swedish short documentary films 1980s Swedish-language films 1987 films 1980s short documentary films 1980s Swedish films

Production

HIV origin theory

Release

See also

References

External links