Film still of Searching For Ingmar Bergman © RR
Margarethe Von Trotta and the search for Ingmar Bergman
In Searching for Ingmar Bergman, German director Margarethe Von Trotta examines Ingmar Bergman's influences, work and private life, all of which continue to inspire entire generations of film-makers today. The documentary is being screened for Cannes Classics as part of the director's centennial celebrations.
Paris, 1960. Margarethe Von Trotta first fell in love with the silver screen after seeing The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman. And the director has stayed with her ever since. In Searching for Ingmar Bergman, the German film-maker explores her intimate tie to the director with a highly personal documentary in which she takes centre stage, a way of "differentiating this film from other pieces that had already been written about him", she explains. A natural storyteller, she takes the audience by the hand, leading us through the film and sharing her vision of the Swedish master, seen through a director's eyes.
He was the first director I saw as an artist, and he inspired me to want to make films.
To put the importance of Bergman's work in context, Margarethe Von Trotta calls on several film industry figureheads such as Ruben Östlund, Olivier Assayas and Mia Hansen-Løve, all of whom explain how the director impacted on their approach to film-making.
Ingmar Bergman was 38 when he won his first Palme d’Or in 1956 for Sommarnattens Leende (Smiles of a Summer Night), which catapulted him to world fame. Next came the Jury Prize in 1958 for The Seventh Seal, followed by the Honorary Palme d'Or for Best Director in 1997. The Swedish master of film produced over 50 films and over 100 plays, and even filmed an opera. On what would have been his 100th birthday, Cannes Classics pays tribute to the genius in two documentaries (the second being Jane Magnusson's Bergman – Ett år, ett liv) and a remastered copy of The Seventh Seal.
