The Bergman Archives

This book presents the complete works of Ingmar Bergman: an homage to one of the most esteemed film and theater artists of all time, began in cooperation with Bergman himself and made with full access to his archives.Since 1957, when he released "The Seventh Seal" and "Wild Strawberries", Ingmar Bergman has been one of the leading figures in international cinema, along with others such as Federico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa. In a career that spanned 60 years, he wrote, produced, and directed 50 films that defined how we see ourselves and how we interact with the people we love, in films like "Persona", "Scenes from a Marriage", and "Fanny and Alexander".Before his death in 2007, Bergman gave co-publishers TASCHEN and Max Strom complete access to his archives at The Bergman Foundation, and permission to reprint his writings and interviews, many of which have never been seen outside of Sweden. Picture researcher Bengt Wanselius, who was Bergman's photographer for 20 years, scoured photo archives all over Sweden, discovered previously unseen images from Bergman's films, and selected unpublished images from the personal archives of many photographers. Text editor Paul Duncan gathered a team of Bergman experts as contributing editors - Peter Cowie and Bengt Forslund (for film/TV), and Ulla Aberg & Birgitta Steene (for theatre) - who have researched and written a narrative that, for the first time, will combine all of Bergman's working life in film and theater. Such is the depth of Bergman's writings that most of the story is told in his own words.This book also features a new introduction by Bergman's close friend, actor and collaborator Erland Josephson, as well as a DVD full of rare and previously unseen material, and a film strip from Fanny and Alexander.The publishers have been given complete access to the files and archives of the Swedish Film Institute, Svensk Filmindustri, Sveriges Television, and the Royal Dramatic Theatre, as well as many other institutions, publishers, and newspapers, making this the most complete book ever published on Ingmar Bergman.The features include: introduction by Erland Josephson; over 1000 scenes from the movies, shots of the director at work, film posters, and photos of Bergman's workbooks and scripts, with explanatory captions; rare and previously unseen images; and, rare texts by Bergman as well as interviews, many of which have never been published outside of Sweden; informative texts by Bergman's collaborators. The features also include: texts by acknowledged Bergman experts Ulla Aberg, Peter Cowie, Bengt Forslund, and Birgitta Steene; a chronology, filmography, and bibliography; special bonuses; a film strip from a copy of Fanny and Alexander (1982) that has been played on Bergman's own film projector in each book; and, a DVD containing 140 minutes of mostly unseen documentary footage: "Bergman's Demons" (Bergman listing and talking about his demons for Marie Nyrerod's documentary), Bergman's Super-8 Home Movies, "The Making of The Imagemakers" (photographer Bengt Wanselius' film of Bergman directing the cast and crew on the set of "The Imagemakers"), and "Saraband Diary" (30 min approx): assistant director Torbjorn Ehrnvall's video diary from Bergman's last film, in which Bergman talks about his life and work.