Ingmar Bergman documentary to shoot in summer

Germany’s C-Films is partnering with Mondex & Cie of France on Ingmar Bergman – Legacy Of A Defining Genius that Cinema Management Group will introduce to buyers on the Croisette.

Margarethe von Trotta will direct the documentary and production is scheduled to commence this summer.

The film – which is scheduled for delivery in 2018 to mark the centenary of the Swedish auteur’s birth – will explore Bergman’s legacy through interviews with close collaborators and younger filmmakers.

His credits include The Seventh Seal, Cries And Whispers, Wild Strawberries, Scenes From A Marriage, and Persona. Bergman received the Palm of Palms at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

Von Trotta has a close connection to the subject matter. She worked with Bergman’s cinematographer Sven Nykvist as an actress on her husband Volker Schlöndorff’s 1972 film A Free Woman.

In 1982 Bergman’s leading lady and long-time companion Liv Ullmann presented von Trotta with the Venice Golden Lion for her film Marianne And Juliane.

Von Trotta will collaborate with son Felix Moeller

Von Trotta will collaborate with her son Felix Moeller, a film historian and documentarian, on the project.

The production will visit the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, as well as significant locations from Bergman’s body of work in Sweden, France and Germany.

Benjamin Seikel and Konstanze Speidel of Hamburg based C-Film are producing with Guy Amon and Stéphane Sorlat of Paris-based Mondex & Cie.

“We’ve been developing Legacy Of Defining Genius for nearly two years already and it’s gratifying that we have been able to secure the collaboration of the Bergman family and we will also be providing never before seen documents and film footage on this great filmmaker,” Seikel said. 

“Also we are very pleased to have the support of the Ingmar Bergman Foundation and Svensk Filmindustri, the Scandinavian multi-media company with whom Bergman made most of his films and which today is the legal owner of all of his films.

“With this unique access and Margarethe von Trotta’s point of view, we are going to be exploring the many layers of Bergman’s body of work as well as the personal side of his life.”

Amon added: “I knew Margarethe von Trotta from having worked with her on three of her films and had enjoyed the experience so much that when we heard about the project, we decided immediately to join the production.

“After our successful French theatrical releases of Carlos Saura’s Argentina in 2015 and Le Mystère Jérôme Bosch in 2016, Bergman by Von Trotta is exactly the high-profile art house reference film that we are looking to co-produce and distribute.”

Film to explore Bergman’s personal side

Von Trotta said: “Bergman had a unique vision and was an extraordinary filmmaker. But he also had a very personal side, which I experienced when Ingmar wanted Volker to direct the film Gösta Berling.

“He visited us several times when he lived close to our home in Munich. With the film, I now want to search for clues in the works of directors who are still alive, to find out what was important to them about Bergman in their own artistic output. Which of Bergman’s films particularly impressed them? And which moments or scenes will they never forget?”

Moeller said: “We will be reaching out to our current generation of filmmakers and ask them what Bergman’s body of work has said to them, has it influenced them in their work, and if so, how, with specific examples.”

Cinema Management Group president Edward Noeltner said: “Having licensed over 30 of Bergman’s films around the world in the late 90’s as former senior vice-president of international sales at Svensk Filmindustri, it’s a true pleasure to be working on the international sales of Legacy Of A Defining Genius, which promises to be a seminal work on one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century.”