At the time, Andersson had not made a film since the financially unsuccessful Giliap from 1975, and had since then mainly worked with television commercials.
The board had seen the finished parts and questioned Andersson's sources, and were also sceptical about the overall approach and tone of the film.
[1] The film introduces what would become the director's signature style, with static camera and long takes featuring hand-picked amateur actors in grim make-up.
The style had been hinted at in Giliap and was developed further in Andersson's commercials, later to be even more refined in the feature films Songs from the Second Floor and You, the Living.
The theory the film supports was later revealed to be an invention by the East German security service Stasi, with the intention to discredit the western world.