‘Blix Not Bombs,’ Portrait of Former UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix, Sells to France

GlobeScreen Auditoriums has taken French rights to “Blix Not Bombs,” a documentary about former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, who was given the task of looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, in the period running up to the U.S.-led invasion of the country 20 years ago.

The deal was closed by Toronto-based sales agent Syndicado Film Sales, which is also an executive producer on the film.

The film had its world premiere at Copenhagen documentary festival CPH:DOX on Monday, the anniversary of the invasion.

In the film, Czech-Swedish filmmaker Greta Stocklassa interviews the Swedish diplomatic, now 94 years old, about what happened in the months leading up to war. He describes his meetings with George W. Bush and Tony Blair, his frustration when Colin Powell gave his pivotal speech in the UN Security Council, and his feeling of emptiness when the U.S. started the invasion, despite his reports that his team had found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

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Blix also argues that there was a butterfly effect that the Iraq War triggered: the invasion resulted in the overthrow of the Iraqi regime, and the break up of the Iraqi army, which led to the rise of ISIS, and the ensuing immigration crisis in Europe. As a reaction to that, a wave of far right populists such as Marie Le Pen, Geert Wilders and others arose, destabilizing governments all around Europe.

In a statement, the director said: “Blix’s person embodies the clash between high politics, world-class events and peaceful days of old age, with the slow expectation of the imminent end. Combining the methods of comprehensive interview and observation of the situations from Blix’s personal life, we are painting a complex portrait of an aging diplomat and a man ready to leave this world. But the main question we discuss is universal: Where stands our personal responsibility for mankind and for the world?”

Stocklassa studied documentary filmmaking at FAMU in Prague. Her full-length documentary debut “Kiruna – A Brand New World” premiered at Visions du Réel in 2019, and won the main prize of the student jury at Finále Plzeň.

“Blix Not Bombs” was produced by Radovan Síbrt at Pink Productions in the Czech Republic. The co-producers are Erik Winker for Germany’s CORSO Film, and Mario Adamson for Sweden’s Sisyfos Film Production.