The White Sport
| Den vita sporten | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by |
Roy Andersson Kalle Boman Lena Ewert Staffan Hedqvist Axel R.-Lohmann Lennart Malmer Jörgen Persson Ingela Romare Inge Roos Rudi Spee Bo Widerberg |
| Distributed by |
AB Svensk Filmindustri Swedish Film Institute (after 1994) |
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Release date
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Running time
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102 minutes |
| Country | Sweden |
| Language | Swedish |
The White Game (Swedish: Den vita sporten) is a 1968 Swedish documentary film about the protests against the 1968 Davis Cup tennis match between Sweden and Rhodesia, in Båstad, Sweden.
In a series of interviews, demonstrators and members of the Swedish government give their views on sport, politics and civil disobedience.
The politically aware students see the protest as an expression of a will to change society. The Minister of Education, Olof Palme, expresses the opinion that some talented tennis players seem to be as bad at politics as he is at tennis. The Minister for Justice, Herman Kling, refuses to comment on the actions of the Swedish Tennis Association, while the Minister of the Interior, Rune Johansson, says that the Association is aware of the governments position, although no official actions have been taken to prevent the match.
Between the interviews, footage of the oppression of black people in Africa is interpolated. A white Rhodesian man says that the blacks should be happy that whites rule the country and keep things in order; he then calls on his black chef who agrees with him. Black university students in Sweden express their disappointment over the Swedish government's lack of action. The captain of the Rhodesian team, Adrian Bay, is interviewed; he avoids commenting on politics.
The documentary was filmed during the demonstration against the Davis Cup match between Sweden and Rhodesia. The match were to take place in Båstad, May 3–5, 1968. Rhodesia was at this time boycotted by several nations, on the recommendation of the United Nations, because of the oppression by Ian Smith's white government of the country's black population. The demonstrators, who demanded that the match should be stopped, represented among others the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League, the Centre Party Youth and Liberal Youth of Sweden, as well as representatives of the Church of Sweden, students and political organisation such as Clarté and the Swedish arm of the National Front for the Liberation of Southern Vietnam. After a clash between the demonstrators and police, the match was cancelled. It was later played at a private tennis club in France.
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