Pål Hollender

He got shot.

Get It Try It

إمارة دبيّ (Rixstep) — Swedish indy filmmaker Pål Hollender got shot in Afghanistan. He's now out of the country and awaiting surgery in Dubai as the wound's become badly infected.

Finding Ali

Hollender's been in Afghanistan the past month working on a documentary on life in Afghanistan (working title 'Finding Ali') due to be released in 2011.

Friday last week he and his driver and guide were on their way to a village near Azra, east of Kabul. 'I already had footage of city life and I needed more from the villages', he said.

Their automobile was accosted by people along the road. 'It's rather common that people stick their head in the window and try to start a fight', Hollender said. 'It can be locals, the police, anybody at all. But this time things got out of control.'



Hollender's driver understood instinctively something was up and sped away. 'He saved my life by acting so fast. We weren't 100 metres down the road when we heard the back window shatter. They were shooting at us. The driver continued to speed away and I crouched down. It was totally unreal.'

Positively Shocking

'It took a long time to find a doctor', Hollender said. They drove through the mountains in a panic - they couldn't go to an ordinary hospital as Hollender's driver was liable for his safety and (yes true) could have been arrested. And merely being shot could have meant Hollender would need to bribe government officials (yes true again) to be able to leave the country.

'Bribing my way back out of Afghanisatan could have cost me a lot of money.'



They finally found a doctor in a mountain village outside Kabul. The doctor removed the makeshift plaster, cleaned the wound. Hollender, not a faint guy exactly, fainted. His driver helped him back to his hotel in Kabul. Of course he had to pretend to not be wounded - otherwise the driver was toast.

His arm continued to swell up, turn red. He understood he had to flee the country, get better medical care.

Bullet Wound

At the end of the day, Hollender's story is one of a bullet wound - a single bullet wound. In the upper left arm. It's nothing compared to what people in Afghanistan endure every day for the benefit of Alfred Nobel's most recent Peace Prize laureate.

But what's interesting is how Hollender managed to bring home what's going on in Afghanistan and what war's really about: putting lead pellets in people. 'I had no clue getting shot could hurt that bad', he said.

Bon Voyage

'The Local' is Sweden's English language version of Aftonbladet so to speak. They covered the Aftonbladet story. Their article garnered three comments - from 'Nemesis', 'mojofat', and 'zooeden' respectively.

He had no idea how much it hurt to be shot. Did he think being shot would be enjoyable?

'I had no idea that it hurt so tremendously much to have a piano fall on my face.'

I had no idea that it hurt so tremendously much to be shot, Hollender told Aftonbladet on Monday. (what a retard) its like he's telling that to his mom!!! -sorry mom!

The people of Sweden (along with Pål Hollender) wish 'Nemesis', 'mojofat', and 'zooeden' a safe trip home. They also heartily recommend the trio shoot each other to see if they're still as cavalier afterwards.

The Heroes Banquet Catering Company wish Pål Hollender a speedy recovery and hope his film's still on schedule.

Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity.
 - /usr/games/fortune

See Also
Aftonbladet: Pål Hollender skjuten under filminspelning