The World Today
Themes of loss, change, home, and the transient nature of life at a time when “communities around the world are being erased by industry, climate change, and political decisions” are explored kaleidoscopically in Once You Will Be One of Those Who Lived Long Ago , the new documentary from Swedish filmmakers Alexander Rynéus and Bifrost, which has its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Sunday.
It's the only documentary in the competition at the 78th edition of the Scottish festival. The documentary focuses on Malmberget in northern Sweden to explore what remains when a place disappears—not just physically, but also emotionally and culturally—but the film's themes are universal.
Malmberget is one of the world's largest underground iron ore mines. The town is being dismantled piece by piece, leaving behind boarded-up windows, demolished houses, and empty streets. Yet amid the ruins, life goes on: quietly reshaping itself as nature begins to reclaim the land.
“In a small mining town in northern Sweden, we witness a melancholic, humorous, and sometimes absurd era of a place,” a synopsis reads. “Beneath the town’s fading streets lies one of the world’s largest underground iron ore mines, an engine of prosperity and demise.” The film is told through the episodic experiences of some of the town’s last residents, “clinging to a sense of home even as the ground beneath them collapses.”
The filmmakers began their artistic relationship with Malmberget in 2013 with the one-hour television film Malmberget – The House and the Cavity and returned to document the dissolution of the city for installation works ahead of their new film, which is their second feature and their first feature about Malmberget.
Ahead of its world premiere, Thr spoke with Bifrost and Rynéus about Once You'll Be One of Those Who Lived Long Ago, why they keep returning to Malmberget, how the fear of death plays into the film, and what's next for them.
“We grew up together in a place that had a lot of mines that are now closed,” says Bifrost Thr . “Malmberget is like 1,000 kilometers from where we live, but it’s the kind of place we felt could be home, but it was on the verge of disappearing. So there was a connection we felt.”
Rynéus recalls Reading, when the duo first investigated the town, how a researcher noticed that people's sleep is affected by mining. "There was a very human feeling of living above one of the largest underground iron ore mines in the world," Thr tells Thr . "It was this mood of this place that we started filming, and we've been filming there for quite some time now."
Once You'll Be One of Those Who Lived Long Ago shows the locals in various Cinéma Vérité-style situations. "In a way, it's a collaboration between the people we filmed," explains Bifrost. "Over the years, I think we both started to feel like we knew more people in Malmberget than we did in the village we grew up in."
Rynéus laughs and agrees. "We've spent so much time there, even when we're not filming, but we just get to know people and get to know each other during these special circumstances where everything disappears," he shares. "Filming became something we also did together with these people. So it felt very natural."
For previous films, "we filmed more obvious things, like conflict-oriented stuff," he adds. "As time went on, these kinds of elements started to disappear, because we got closer to the people. And we began to notice beneath all this disappearance, a kind of resilience and resistance, making things like everyday life work, even though everything is falling apart around them. So, the film needed to adapt to that mood."
The filmmaking duo says they like to take their time while working on documentaries, and time is a key element the film explores and helps with its focus on mood. “The element of time is how we approach people very closely and get personal snippets from different angles of this situation,” says Bifrost. “In a way, it all comes down to the themes of loss and how you cope with loss.”
Describing the current state of Malmberget, Bifrost says, "The town is completely gone, but there's still a conflict over the church. And then you have these towns and areas within the town. Our first film was very much about resolving the situation, and everyone at the end is grouped into different groups that move through different stages. Now, in this film, it's all demolished."
Could the Doc duo return to capture a future Malmberget after two past docs, the new one, and two exhibition films about it? “We’ve been doing this for 15 years in this location. The town is disappearing, so we thought this film is over, so now this is the end of it,” says Rynéus Thr . “But since we like long-standing scapes, we’re already thinking about whether it’s possible to make a film with just nature and animals in the future. We’ve been talking about it.”
Once you will be one of those who lived long ago It is also an illustration of how in life, things can often have benefits and risks or drawbacks at the same time.
"People have very strong feelings against the mining company, but they also understand that the city was built because of the mine, so there's this very complex feeling," Rynéus emphasizes. "So it's neither."
Bifrost adds: “That’s why it’s also a film about acceptance, in a way. In the end, you have to accept the situation. It’s the same with life and death. I mean, you have to accept that we have our time here on Earth, and then we’re not here anymore.”
What are Bifrost and Rynéus working on next? “The next documentary we’re working on together is about faith in Sweden,” says Rynéus. “It’s often described as one of the most secular countries in the world. The theme is to see if this statement is true. So we’re in Sweden, filming churches, which are often quite empty.”
Since they both come from the countryside, “We want to have this perspective of visiting churches and communities in the countryside,” says Bifrost Thr . “In some churches, there are only three people attending Sunday Mass. But then, when something happens in a small community, you can fill the whole church.”
"Once You'll Be One of Those Who Lived Long Ago" is a long title, but it also stands out. Where did it come from? It's a line from a poem by Swedish poet Pär Lagerkvist, which the filmmaking duo likes. "We both really liked that book, but when we found that line, we felt it was what the film was about," Rynéus recalls.
"The poem itself has a lot to do with nature and how everything returns to its original state," Bifrost concludes. "In a way, Malmberget is like all the places that are disappearing. So the story is universal. That's something we really want to emphasize with this film."
