Seal mourning

SEAL MOURNING was perhaps the most controversial and widely-debated program on Swedish Television in 1989. Its depiction of brutal seal hunting in the Arctic Ocean revolted viewers all over the world. The Swedish king’s criticism lead to diplomatic altercations. The program is based upon VHS video films taken by Odd F. Lindberg, a Norvegian seal hunt inspector. He was able to document the seal hunt in spite of extremely difficult conditions and threats from the hunters themselves. Had he used the 16mm camera Swedish Television sent with him, his life would have been in danger. He was able to employ a small amateur video camera, however, and come up witch a unique film document. These scenes depicting the slaughter of seals lead to investigations which revealed illegalities within the Common Market’s sealskin, where irregularities in customs and statistics office (and elsewhere) facilitated violations of Common Market import restrictions.