The incredible story of a red scarf from a small Swedish city just below the Arctic Circle, appeared in the eye of the storm, on a rioter at the US Capitol breach on 6 January 2021.
The search for clues surrounding a red scarf's spectacular journey takes us from a city just below the Arctic Circle, filled with optimism, as Europe's largest building project, a sustainable car battery factory is under way, to Stockholm and Washington D.C., political centers where populism pushes the Western democracy towards the abyss. Then, in the midst of crisis, through power games and intrigues, among myths and truths, a soft handout suddenly becomes uniquely effective, both as advertising campaign, and as a symbol of the threat to our fragile democracy.—MML
The Swedish scarf at the US Capitol attack subject of a documentary.
"This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic."George W. Bush, U.S. President 2001-2009
The incredible story of a red scarf with white lashes, originally intended as a Christmas gift from the municipality to relocated residents of the northern city of Skellefteå in the region of Västerbotten in Swedish Laponia.
Under unknown circumstances, the souvenir appeared around the neck of a flag-waving, bearded coup maker at the violent riots on 6 January 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Congress, while the country was the epicenter of the pandemic.
The search for clues surrounding the scarf's spectacular journey takes us from a city just below the Arctic Circle, filled with optimism, as Europe's largest building project, a sustainable car battery factory is under way, to the capitals Stockholm and Washington D.C., political centers where populism pushes Western democracy ever closer towards the abyss.
Then, in the midst of crisis, through power games and intrigues, among myths and truths, a soft handout suddenly becomes uniquely effective, both as advertising campaign, and as a symbol of the threats to our fragile democracy.
The project is a collaboration between Mathias Fjellström, award winner at Cannes and Academy Awards nominee, born in Skellefteå, and the award-winning documentary filmmaker and photographer Mattias Löw, who has made films about both Västerbotten and the USA.
