Movie Night - March 2: The Girl Who Played With Fire

The movie ”The Girl Who Played with Fire” (”Flickan som lekte med elden”)

”The Girl Who Played with Fire” (original title in Swedish is "Flickan som lekte med elden") is the second novel in the Millennium Trilogy by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. The book features many of the characters that appeared in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, among them Lisbeth Salander, the "Girl" of the title and a social misfit hacker, and Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist and publisher of Millennium magazine.

The movie is shown at the Swedish School on 2nd of March, at 19.00. No English subtitle is available.

Mikael Blomkvist, publisher of Millennium magazine, has made his living exposing the crooked and corrupt practices of establishment Swedish figures. So when a young journalist approaches him with a meticulously researched thesis about sex trafficking in Sweden and those in high office who abuse underage girls, Blomkvist immediately throws himself into the investigation.

He’s had no contact with tattooed wild-child and computer hacker extraordinaire Lisbeth Salander since they risked their lives on a terrifying hunt for a serial killer last year (see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). But unknown to Blomkvist, Salander has had contact with him – or at least, with his computer hard drive, which she has cloned and is monitoring from the vast new apartment she has bought with her fraudulently obtained fortune.

Repeatedly abused while young, Salander is a traumatized survivor of the care system in Sweden – but she’s no helpless victim. A punk avenging angel with boxing skills, a photographic memory and pathologically focussed on seeking out and punishing violent misogynists, Salander is drawn to the investigation on Blomkvist’s computer. So while Blomkvist and his fellow Millennium idealists research the sex industry according to the rules of good journalism, Salander – spurred on by the appalling case studies of teenage prostitution she finds on Blomkvist's computer – takes matters into her own hands. She plots punishment for the traffickers, but before she can carry out her own brand of justice, she is accused of three murders, all connected to the sex trafficking exposé about to be published in Millennium.

To avoid capture by the police, Salander vanishes. While the tabloids go wild on the run, Blomkvist tries despairingly to clear her name, though he can’t find her anywhere. When he does eventually make contact, it is to discover that Salander is more embroiled in his investigation than he could have thought possible. It turns out that for Salander, the trail of guilt leads shockingly close to home.

Reviews on the movie can be read (only in Swedish) on SvD (http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/film/salander-lyser-starkast_3536115.svd) and DN (http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/filmrecensioner/flickan-som-lekte-med-elden-1.955479).

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Chris Coulter on Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers

Commented by Johan Norman on February 15, 2010

The war in Sierra Leone between 1991 and 2002 challenged the view of women as only being victims in wars. This is one of the conclusions that PhD in anthropology Chris Coulter could draw after interviewing women during one and a half years of field studies in the country. At a lecture in the Swedish School on February 15 she shared her findings.

"Many women were victims and were kidnapped and raped but some were also fighters in the war", says Chris Coulter.

Many had come to the Swedish School on 15 February to listen to Chris Coulter’s lecture on women´s role in the civil war in Sierra Leone. The one hour long lecture was followed by continued discussions at the Swedish school´s bar at the pool side.
The standard image of a soldier, a man in short hair and uniform, was challenged in Sierra Leone and other African wars according to Coulter. When she first heard of female fighters in Sierra Leone in 1997 she decided to study the phenomena.

"We don’t really expect women to be fighters, so when I heard about female fighters this led me to Sierra Leone", says Coulter.

She visited Sierra Leone in 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2004 and she spent in total one and a half years in the country, some of the time in the capital Freetown but mostly in Kabala, a town in the north of the country.

"When I talked to UN as part of my preparations I discovered that this part of the country was the least developed and least visited by UN and NGO´s. As nobody seemed interested in this part of the country, I decided to go there."

Interviewing some 100 women affected by the war gave Coulter a diversified picture of women´s role in the war. The rebels would attack villages and kidnap young women, some as young as nine, to help the rebels carrying and cooking. In the beginning they were severely abused.

"They were locked into a house and raped by many men for days."

The gang rapes were often stopped by a senior commander who afterwards claimed the raped woman as his “wife”. This saved the women´s life and a sense of loyalty towards the rebels started to grow. Many got pregnant and became in charge of supplying the rebels with food. Others became soldiers and even commanders. “Black Diamond” in neighboring Liberia was one of the more famous female commanders that astonished the world.

"BBC would not describe the female rebels in Sierra Leone as normal soldiers but rather as street wise girls. And the violence they committed was often described as more vicious and cold blooded than male soldiers."

The war in Sierra Leone and other African countries also challenged the stereotype of how a male soldier looks like. The rebels were often young men in hip hop clothes, high on drugs and undisciplined. Some rebels turned the soldier stereotype completely upside down. In Sierra Leone and Liberia there were soldiers wearing bras, wigs and women´s dresses.

"The West looked upon these rebels as totally crazy and they reinforced the image of the savage African. But in many West African countries it is not a pure masculinity that gives strength and potency, like in the West, but a crossing between the sexes and this goes back hundreds of years."

When the war ended in January 2002, a process of disarmament and reintegration of the rebels started. Many rebels, especially the female rebels, had great difficulties in returning back to normal life. Many women were young, some not more the nine when they were kidnapped and they could spend up to 10 years with rebels which is very formative years in a young girl´s life.

"These women were illiterate and came from traditional families in small villages. With the guns in their hands they could change the normal hierarchies in society. When they were rebels they could get dresses, jewels and anything they wanted. When they returned after the war many could not stand traditional village life."

But returning home after the war also meant facing the victims of the rebel killings. Many had been forced to kill relatives in the village in order to survive. Many families refused to forgive them but they were also afraid that they would kill other relatives if coming back.

But also the women´s new tougher attitude and language and big city outfits developed during the rebels years, was an obstacle for reintegrating to normal family life.

"Many were loud, swearing and were using drugs. Not only their families had problems accepting them but also local NGO´s complained that they did not know what to do with these women."

The destiny of the rebel women after the war differs. Some got married with a man in the village, others stayed with the rebel husband even if society never accepted these marriages. Some got involved in the “loving business” after returning home, either with some steady boyfriends or as prostitutes. This would support their village family financially and give the women some space of negotiations when returning home.

Chris Coulter is a lecturer and researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden. If you are interested in finding out more about women during and after the civil war in Sierra Leone, Chris Coulter´s book “Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers – women´s lives through war and peace in Sierra Leone” is now available at Planet Books in Arcades.

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Wine Tasting at the Swedish School

On Thursday February 25 mr Henrik Riby will lead a wine tasting session for some members of the Swedish School. Four different wines will be tested and a lot of knowledge spread to the members.

More information will be published after this event.

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Book Review: Africa House, by Christina Lamb

Book review by Anna Riby, February 23, 2010


This is the story about Stewart Gore-Brown and his dream of an English manor, in the back of beyond of Northern Rhodesia. Gore-Brown first came to N Rhodesia in 1914 to work for the British Border Commission and to get away from England where his first love had married an older man. He starts looking for land to buy, where he can build a manor (something he is unlikely to be able to do in England, considering his family being wealthy, but not enough and his a bit unorthodox career).

By Shiwa N’Gandu Lake (Lake of the Royal Crocodiles), a three-week trek or 400 miles from the nearest railway station, he finds his paradise and in 1920 he starts to build Shiwa N’Gandu – well, rather has it built, based on sketches he has been drawing since childhood. And he doesn’t stop with the house itself. Bit by bit Gore-Brown builds almost a kingdom with himself as the benevolent despot. Gore-Brown pursues a self-sustaining estate or model village, with orchards, tile making, stables, butchery and milk processing, schools, a health clinic etc. The house is managed like an English manor, with uniformed servants, rose gardens, and three-course dinners finished off by an old port in the library. The book continues to tell Gore-Brown’s story, his marriage (to the orphaned daughter of his first love), his incessant work to make Shiwa N’Gandu profitable, and his gradual involvement in the politics of the region.

The book is a fascinating portrait of a man torn between his conservative upbringing in Queen Victoria’s England and his in those times quite progressive ideas on the colonial government, “the natives” and independence for Northern Rhodesia. It’s easy to dislike the man who hits his workers, who gives his servants a glass of wine after they have served dinner, without ever questioning whether they like it or not. But it’s is also easy to be impressed by the man who stands up for the rights of a black man in a bar in Lusaka, who offers scholarships to young, promising men and who gets involved and plays a major role in the transition to an independent Zambia. When he died at the age of 84, he received both a state funeral and a chief’s funeral. A few items of Gore-Brown’s can supposedly be found at the National Museum in Lusaka.

By reading much of his correspondence and talking to the heirs of Shiwa N’Gandu, Lamb has written an interesting book, describing the estate, the surroundings and life at Shiwa N’Gandu in detail, as well as trying to explain the complex, almost bi-polar man Gore-Brown himself. The book also gives us a glimpse of the history of Northern Rhodesia and Zambia, and new perspectives on the Britain as a colonial power and background to the Zambian struggle for independence. I thus recommend it to everyone who spends more than a short vacation in Zambia. Among other places, the book can be bought in the Book Cellar, Manda Hill for appr. 100,000 zmk.

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Shiwa N'Gandu - a piece of Zambian history

Travelling Story by Theodor Sverkén Sjögren, February 22, 2010

After reading Africa House by Christina Lamb (see under Book Reviews) my family decided to fill up the Nissan Patrol and go the 750 kilometers up north. To fill up happened to be a very good decision since there are only two petrol stations on the way, and these are easy to miss, especially if you have a couple of kids playing in the back of your car.

It should not be any problems going the whole distance in one day, but the longer you wait until going on this holiday, the longer the trip will take, due to the escalating number of pot holes (Important note: in 2009 the amount and size of the holes were still okey, not as the 2009 status of the Livingstone road). My family decided to stop over (one night in each direction) at Forest Inn, in between Kapiri Mposhi and Mpika. A nice place, but with no activities or anything else to spend the time on apart from having your dinner, sleeping and leaving the place just after your breakfast.

From the main road there is a good sign indicating where to turn for Shiwa N'Gandu, and soon this old British estate house shows up in front of you. You can choose to spend your nights at the Africa House, but if you have a smaller budget then stay at Kapisha Hotsprings Lodge, some 20 kilometers further in on the estate. The lodge is run by Mark Harvey, the grandson of Sir Stewart Gore-Brown, who built the estate house in the 20s and 30s. Africa House itself is run by Mark's brother.

Sir Gore-Brown was a weird man with a weird dream. He wanted so much to have his own British estate house, but since he could not afford building or buying it in England, he decided to build it in Africa, funded with money from his beloved aunt.

This man was living for love, and married the daughter of his first love called Lorna. Losing his temper was apperently another common habit, but something people in the area had to accept since he was the biggest employer in northern Rhodesia at the time building the estate house.

For more information about Africa House and Sir Gore-Brown you can either read the book mentioned above, or visit the house, or, like we did, combine these two holiday activities.

At Kapisha Hotsprings Lodge there is (of course) a hot spring in which we started every morning. Starting off the day in 40 degree water is not too bad, actually. A river is alos running just a couple of meters down the chalets. If you are a true explorer you can even go camping here. Other activities include game drives, hunting, boat trips, horseback riding, and of course a visit to the Africa House. But the evenings you should definitely spend at the lodge because of the delicious food and, not to forget, Mark Harvey's stories about his family and the house. That is not only exciting, but also a piece of Zambia's history.

We spent three nights at Kapisha Hotsprings, which was enough. When leaving we could not resist buying some of the products made at the lodge, such as jam, marmelade, chutney and pickles. The strawberry jam was well appreciated on the pancakes the following weekend.

On our way back to Lusaka we bought some nice handmade baskets at the petrol station in Serenje. The packed lunch we got at Cims restaurant in Mpika.

If you are spending some more nights on your holiday, or prefer not staying at Forest Inn, you could also go to Mutinundo Wilderness Area on the way up to Shiwa N'Gandu, but that's for another explorer to tell us more about, in another part of this blog.

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Chris Coulter on Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers

Commented by Johan Norman, February 2010

The war in Sierra Leone between 1991 and 2002 challenged the view of women as only being victims in wars. This is one of the conclusions that PhD in anthropology Chris Coulter could draw after interviewing women during one and a half years of field studies in the country. At a lecture in the Swedish School on February 15 she shared her findings.

"Many women were victims and were kidnapped and raped but some were also fighters in the war", says Chris Coulter.

Many had come to the Swedish School on 15 February to listen to Chris Coulter’s lecture on women´s role in the civil war in Sierra Leone. The one hour long lecture was followed by continued discussions at the Swedish school´s bar at the pool side.
The standard image of a soldier, a man in short hair and uniform, was challenged in Sierra Leone and other African wars according to Coulter. When she first heard of female fighters in Sierra Leone in 1997 she decided to study the phenomena.

"We don’t really expect women to be fighters, so when I heard about female fighters this led me to Sierra Leone", says Coulter.

She visited Sierra Leone in 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2004 and she spent in total one and a half years in the country, some of the time in the capital Freetown but mostly in Kabala, a town in the north of the country.

"When I talked to UN as part of my preparations I discovered that this part of the country was the least developed and least visited by UN and NGO´s. As nobody seemed interested in this part of the country, I decided to go there."

Interviewing some 100 women affected by the war gave Coulter a diversified picture of women´s role in the war. The rebels would attack villages and kidnap young women, some as young as nine, to help the rebels carrying and cooking. In the beginning they were severely abused.

"They were locked into a house and raped by many men for days."

The gang rapes were often stopped by a senior commander who afterwards claimed the raped woman as his “wife”. This saved the women´s life and a sense of loyalty towards the rebels started to grow. Many got pregnant and became in charge of supplying the rebels with food. Others became soldiers and even commanders. “Black Diamond” in neighboring Liberia was one of the more famous female commanders that astonished the world.

"BBC would not describe the female rebels in Sierra Leone as normal soldiers but rather as street wise girls. And the violence they committed was often described as more vicious and cold blooded than male soldiers."

The war in Sierra Leone and other African countries also challenged the stereotype of how a male soldier looks like. The rebels were often young men in hip hop clothes, high on drugs and undisciplined. Some rebels turned the soldier stereotype completely upside down. In Sierra Leone and Liberia there were soldiers wearing bras, wigs and women´s dresses.

"The West looked upon these rebels as totally crazy and they reinforced the image of the savage African. But in many West African countries it is not a pure masculinity that gives strength and potency, like in the West, but a crossing between the sexes and this goes back hundreds of years."

When the war ended in January 2002, a process of disarmament and reintegration of the rebels started. Many rebels, especially the female rebels, had great difficulties in returning back to normal life. Many women were young, some not more the nine when they were kidnapped and they could spend up to 10 years with rebels which is very formative years in a young girl´s life.

"These women were illiterate and came from traditional families in small villages. With the guns in their hands they could change the normal hierarchies in society. When they were rebels they could get dresses, jewels and anything they wanted. When they returned after the war many could not stand traditional village life."

But returning home after the war also meant facing the victims of the rebel killings. Many had been forced to kill relatives in the village in order to survive. Many families refused to forgive them but they were also afraid that they would kill other relatives if coming back.

But also the women´s new tougher attitude and language and big city outfits developed during the rebels years, was an obstacle for reintegrating to normal family life.

"Many were loud, swearing and were using drugs. Not only their families had problems accepting them but also local NGO´s complained that they did not know what to do with these women."

The destiny of the rebel women after the war differs. Some got married with a man in the village, others stayed with the rebel husband even if society never accepted these marriages. Some got involved in the “loving business” after returning home, either with some steady boyfriends or as prostitutes. This would support their village family financially and give the women some space of negotiations when returning home.

Chris Coulter is a lecturer and researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden. If you are interested in finding out more about women during and after the civil war in Sierra Leone, Chris Coulter´s book “Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers – women´s lives through war and peace in Sierra Leone” is now available at Planet Books in Arcades.