Synopsis
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. After months of research, planning and failed attempts, they were finally on their way 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 reportage 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. And they were far from alone. Their cellmates were journalists, writers and politicians persecuted for not bowing down to dictatorship. Their reportage about oil was transformed into a story about ink, and their daily lives turned into a fight for survival inside the notorious Kality prison in Addis Ababa.
Cast and Crew
Cast: Gustaf Skarsgård, Matias Varela, Faysal Ahmed, Nathaniel Ramabulana, Fredrik Evers, Josefin Neldén, Philip Zandén, Jesper Ganslandt, Sivuyile Ngesi, Samuel Mtoti, Gunilla Johansson, Frederik Nilsson, Lena B. Nilsson, Graham Clarke, Stephen Jennings, Fredrik Skavlan, Farouk Valley-Omar, Mohamed Kalif Barre, Pär Luttropp, Tobias Åström
Writer: Peter Birro (Writer)
Cinematographer: Sophia Olsson
Production Designer: Fred Du Preez, Louise Drake af Hagelsrum
Editor: Hanna Lejonqvist
Sound Designer: Fredrik Dalenfjäll, Greg Albert
Composer: Jon Ekstrand
Costume Designer: Clinton Booyse
Producers: Sandra Harms, Karl Fredrik Ulfung, Marlow De Mardt
Production: Film i Väst, SVT, Miso Film Sverige