Bergman Revisited promises new take on iconic director

In the summer of 2018, Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman would have been 100 years old. Plans are already in the works to celebrate the occasion and one project from the Swedish Film institute and Swedish Television hopes to offer viewers a new take on the acclaimed artist.

The project, called Bergman Revisited, will give six selected directors the chance to produce a 10-minute fiction film. The directors can receive up to SEK 1 million to help finance their work.

Andreas Fock is the short film commissioner at the Swedish Film Institute and tells Radio Sweden that a key requirement is that the films have a link, of some sort, to Bergman's art or life.

"Ingmar Bergman is such an important figure in Swedish film so it's probably even more difficult not to have a relation to his work than to actually have it," Fock says. 

The deadline to submit an idea for a film is October 10th and the Film Institute will announce who has been selected later in the year. The six shorts will premiere at the 2018 Gothenburg film festival and will also be screened on Swedish Television.

Fock emphasized that Bergman Revisited isn't just for fans of the man. He says the Film Institute would welcome works with all sorts of points of view on the director.

"We're really looking for all kinds of films here," says Fock. "Let's say you have a film director who watched all the films from Ingmar Bergman and didn't like any of them. If you take that frustration and put it down to a 10-minute short film, I think that could be hilarious."

Source: sverigesradio.se