CHARLOTTE ROTH is one of the major driving forces behind a festival dedicated to the life and work of director Ingmar Bergman. The festival, which is in Sofia from October 8 to 28, will be accompanied by an exhibition at CiBank. Roth, who is also the wife of the Swedish ambassador, spoke to VELINA NACHEVA.



WORLD-FAMOUS writer, film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman made a definitive impact on the art form of cinema with the 56 films he did over a period of 50 years.

A festival of his work will be held at Cinema Centre from October 8 to 28.

Two years ago, Bergman donated 45 carton boxes of original material to the Swedish Film Institute (SFI). Part of this collection, subtitled in English and Bulgarian, is the basis for the festival.

Of these, 10 will be being shown in Bulgaria for the first time.

Roth told The Sofia Echo that the project expanded from an initial idea of showing five to six films, to the current 21.

The films to be shown include some of his 1960s classics, along with more recent works.

Roth says that the Bergman films of the 1960s, which she saw as a teenager, made a tremendous impression on her.

At the same time, she warmly recommends Cries and Whispers (1972) as including some of Bergman's most representative moments of his amazing cinematographic production; lack of communication, the absence of God, the search for God, death, illness, psychological drama and interpersonal relationships.

"It is not an easy film but it is a beautiful one," Roth said.

She quoted Bergman as saying that this was a film where he had done the best he could do.

Of his 1970s films, Bergman said: "Anyone who makes films must have a goal before his eyes: namely, to try to get as close to the viewer as possible, to affect him as deeply as possible. What I call technique is knowing exactly how to affect the viewer. That's the crux of the matter. All the rest is secondary. And it is a matter of talent."

Maaret Koskinen, the leading biographical researcher on Bergman, is also going to participate in the festival. She will give a lecture at the New Bulgarian University on October 8 at 2pm.

She, as Bergman's sole biographer, or at least the one he trusted to give all his manuscripts, will speak about his life.

Born July 14, 1918, he has found a place in history as a film and theatre director, playwright and writer.

Roth recounted that he grew up in family headed by a Lutheran minister, and thus was surrounded by religious imagery and discussion.

His Lutheran pastor father Erik would take Bergman on regular trips from one church to another, through small Swedish towns.

Roth feels a bond with Bergman in this respect, because her father was a Lutheran pastor, and traditions in her family were similar.

He graduated from Stockholm University after studying the history of literature. While there, he became interested in theatre and cinema, and later in scriptwriting.

There he was very close to Maria, a young actress, and the two rented a room together; the relationship was strongly opposed by his father, to the point that Ingmar rejected any kind of contact with his family for nearly four years. He became assistant director at an opera house. A ballet dancer took care of him until he was finally hired and paid as a prompter.

Of his work from this time, Roth said that Bergman was concentrating on the soul.

"He talks about all the masks we are wearing and where the real face is," Roth said, adding that he dealt with this question at a metaphorical level.

Soon after he got his first paid job and regained the love of his family in 1943, he married Else Fischer, dancer and choreographer.

Four other wives were to follow. His second relationship with the journalist Gun Hagberg inspired Waiting Women, produced in 1952, as well as the subsequent Summer with Monica.

"Bergman cannot improvise," Roth said. He usually writes his own scripts, thinking about them for months or years before starting the actual process of writing, which he views as somewhat tedious. "It is very interesting to study his manuscripts," she said.

Some of his earlier films were also carefully structured, but Bergman has said that in his later works, when his characters sometimes start wanting to do things different from what he had intended, he allowed them to, calling the results "disastrous" when he did not. Bergman increasingly let his actors improvise their dialogue; in his more recent films, he has written just the ideas behind the dialogue, keeping in mind the general direction he thinks it should take.

Bergman, according to Roth, considers himself better in theatre, but outside Sweden, is best known through his films.

Roth sees an insight into Bergman through his 1999 screenplay, The Faithless, which was directed by his former wife, Liv Ullman.

"This film features the character as a terrible and unpleasant person," Roth said adding that he regards himself as an angry man.

In Saraband (2003), Bergman's latest TV film that he both wrote and directed, there is a memorable scene between father and a son. It is very obviously taken from his life, Roth said, adding that he did not have time for his children.

"As a filmmaker Bergman is the greatest," she said adding of his unbelievable grasp of fantasy and camera technique.

However, as a director he was a great person to work with, she said.

Bergman dealt with religious questions in his The Seventh Seal (1956), which also won the special award in Cannes and several acknowledgments in France, Italy and Spain. This represented the director's long religious meditation, a subject to which he has returned in many films.

"The face and mask contradiction exists in all his works," Roth said, adding that illusions also find their place in his works.

In the five-hour Fanny and Alexander (1982), which brought him four Oscar awards and is to be screened in full in Sofia, the theatrical elements are apparent. Roth said that the film features nice family scenes at Christmas, and at the same time the illusory side of life.

After being treated in hospital for major depression, Bergman wrote the drama Persona (1966). In this, one of his most important themes was the role of the artist and the sometimes subtle line between creativity and madness. This theme is already integral to Persona, The Naked Night, and is equally important to The Magician and Hour of the Wolf.

Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), the first film for which he got an award in Cannes, and was later on awarded by thousands of international supporters and lovers of his art.

"It is hard to be a prophet in your own country," Roth said, adding that it was after some time that he was recognised as a great film director in Sweden, after he was recognised as the best film director in Europe.



* Information for this article was taken from Petri Liukkonen's biography of Bergman, Bergman's biographer Maaret Koskinen, and essays by film and theatre critic Stan Schwarz.





Programme of the Ingmar Bergman Festival in Sofia.



At the Cinema Centre (108 Rakovski Str, Tel.: 9876580, with subtitles in English and Bulgarian.



Saturday, October 9

The Magic Flute, 6.30pm.

Summer with Monica, 8.30pm.



Sunday, October 10

Summer with Monica, 6.30pm.

Sawdust and Tinsel, 8.30pm.



Monday, October 11

Sawdust and Tinsel, 6.30pm.

Smiles of a Summer Night, 8.30pm.



Tuesday, October 12

Smiles of a Summer Night, 6.30pm.

Wild Strawberries, 8.30pm.



Wednesday, October 13

Wild Strawberries, 6.30pm.

Persona, 8.30pm.



Thursday, October 14

Persona, 6.30pm.

Hour of the Wolf, 8.30pm.