LevelK Boards ‘A Song Called Hate’ About Hatari’s Controversial Eurovision Performance in Israel (EXCLUSIVE)

By Elsa Keslassy

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – LevelK has boarded Anna Hildur’s directorial debut “A Song Called Hate,” a documentary revolving around Hatari, the performance art group which made headlines at last year’s Eurovision Song Contest. LevelK is handling world sales excluding Iceland.

Executive produced by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard (“20,000 Days on Earth”), the documentary follows the journey of Hatari, a controversial BDSM techno band which represented Iceland at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. The band notoriously flagged the Palestine banners when the contest results were announced, going against the rules of the European Broadcasting Union which organizes the show and wants it to be a non-political event.

“A Song Called Hate” tracks the band’s voyage from Reykjavik to Tel Aviv and Palestine, and examines how these young artists coped with criticism coming from all sides, as well as explores freedom of expression and the role of artists in engaging in contemporary issues.

“Making this documentary was a challenging and life-changing (experience). Seeing young artists making a stand and attempting to create a meaningful debate through their art gives me hope, and hope is precious,” said the London-based Hildur, who previously worked in broadcast TV and in the music industry.

Forsyth and Pollard, whose directorial credits include the Sundance-winning, BAFTA-nominated documentary “20,000 Days on Earth” with Nick Cave,” said they were attracted to the project because they are “interested in finding the bigger story” and want to “de-mythologise what it takes to be an artist, what it means to think and act creatively.”

“Art can’t change the world. But art changes people, and people change the world,” said Forsyth and Pollard.

Hildur produced the film through the banner Tattarrattat, with financial backing from RÚV, Iceland’s public broadcaster and the Icelandic tax rebate.