''Concerning Violence'' is a 2014

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

written and directed by Göran Hugo Olsson. It is based on

Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) was a French West Indian psychiatrist, political philosopher, and Marxist from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have become influential in the ...

's essay, "Concerning Violence", from his 1961 book '' The Wretched of the Earth''. American singer and actress

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

served as the narrator in the English-language release of the film, while Finnish actress Kati Outinen provides narration for the original Swedish release. The film is an

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint vent ...

between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, and

the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Synopsis

The film narrates the events of African nationalist and independence movements in the 1960s and 1970s which challenged colonial and white minority rule.

Release

The film premiered in-competition in the ''World Cinema Documentary Competition'' at

2014 Sundance Film Festival The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16, 2014 until January 26, 2014 in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Utah, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opene ...

on 17 January 2014, after being pitched at the 2012 MeetMarket at Sheffield Doc/Fest. In May 2013, ''Films Boutique'' acquired the worldwide distribution rights to the film. The film also screened at

64th Berlin International Film Festival The 64th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 6 to 16 February 2014. Wes Anderson's film ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' opened the festival. British film director Ken Loach was presented with the Golden Bear#Golden Bear .E2.80. ...

in ''Panorama Dokumente section'', in February 2014. It won a prize at the festival. The film also premiered in competition at 2014 Göteborg International Film Festival on 30 January 2014. It had a theatrical release in Sweden on 15 August 2014. It was released in the UK on 28 November 2014 and in the United States on 5 December 2014.

Reception

''Concerning Violence'' received positive reviews upon its premiere at the

. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

gives the film a 90% rating based on reviews from 31 critics, with an average score of 7.5/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

weighted mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film holds an average score of 86, based on 5 reviews, indicating a 'Universal acclaim' response. Kevin Jagernauth of '' Indiewire'' praised the film and said that "Concerning Violence suggests that the lesson has yet to be learned, and it's only a matter a time until history repeats itself again, and action is taken." Joshua Rothkopf of '' Time Out '' gave the film four stars out of five and said that "A pulsing, echoing trumpet blast-repeated throughout-and some in-your-face political carnage identify Concerning Violence for what it is: a prickly, passionate call to arms." Boyd van Hoeij in his review for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called the film "A tough and cerebral but finally illuminating documentary about the decolonization of Africa." Dan Schindel of ''Movie Mezzanine'' gave the film a positive review and said that "Concerning Violence is one of the best documentaries to hit this year's Sundance. It also acts as an excellent companion piece to We Come As Friends, another great doc about imperialism in Africa that's been playing the fest. It stands alone both as a work of history, sociology, psychology, and philosophy" and adds that the film is "A poetic, thought-provoking visual essay."

Accolades

References

External links