Winner of the Documentary Directing award at Sundance, Cold Case Hammarskjöld is a shocking, revelatory murder mystery about the 1961 plane crash that killed United Nations secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld.
"The titular protagonist of Cold Case Hammarskjöld is Dag Hammarskjöld, the secretary general of the United Nations who died in a plane crash in 1961, in what was then northern Rhodesia. Although his death was ruled an accident, several observers noted the suspicious circumstances of his death, including how convenient it was for certain political and corporate factions. As a proponent of self-determination and economic independence in Africa, Hammarskjöld was considered a threat to interests that had long seen the continent’s vast resources as theirs for the taking.
"Danish filmmaker Mads Brugger re-examines the episode, returning to the place where the remains of Hammarskjöld’s plane were buried and following an investigator named Goran Bjorkdahl down a rabbit hole that ends with a pretty convincing case that the U.N. leader was indeed murdered. But Brugger doesn’t stop there: The rabbit hole leads him into even more disturbing areas that have disquieting relevance to modern-day life, from medical epidemics to the equally fatal contagion of white supremacy and militarism.
"Funny, provocative and chilling, Cold Case Hammarskjöld draws the viewer into that helix and manages to be improbably entertaining, even as it becomes increasingly, shockingly uncomfortable. It’s impossible to emerge from this film without being shaken to your core. Mission accomplished: Mind blown." - Anne Hornaday, Washington Post
"Cold Case Hammarskjöld is a singular experience that counts as one of the most honestly disturbing and provocative nonfiction films in years." - Owen Gleiberman, Variety
"A tremendously absorbing film, a documentary that plays like a first-rate thriller hinging on key issues of the Cold War and African decolonization." - RogerEbert.com