Palador Pictures and The Embassy of Sweden pay a tribute to Ingmar Bergman with `Remembering Bergman - A Retrospective`
Released on: August 6, 2008, 2:57 pm
Press Release Author: Palador Pictures Pvt. Ltd.
Industry: Entertainment
Press Release Summary: - A six-city, seven film festival tours the country || Launch of Ingmar Bergman Collector's Edition 5 DVD box set || Workshops on the maestro by documentary filmmaker and friend, Gunnar Bergdahl -
Press Release Body: New Delhi, August 6, 2008: Palador Pictures, the undisputed leader in the World Cinema category in India with close to a 1,000 of the best and most awarded films in association with the Embassy of Sweden brings Remembering Bergman - A Retrospective, a tribute to Ingmar Bergman, one of the greatest filmmakers of all times on his first death anniversary.
The Retrospective was inaugurated by the Ambassador of Sweden today with the unveiling of the Ingmar Bergman Collector's Edition 5 DVD Box Set and the announcement of the film festival. The films which are available to audiences on the DVD Box Set are: 'Music in Darkness', 'Summer With Monika', 'Through a Glass Darkly', 'Winter Light' and 'The Silence', with 'Intermezzo' - a freewheeling interview with Ingmar Bergman - as a special feature. The festival will showcase, in addition to some of the films on the DVD box, 'Wild Strawberries', 'Summer Interlude' and 'Devil's Eye.' Elaborating on the rationale behind the Bergman Retrospective, Gautam Shiknis, Founder and Managing Director, Palador Pictures said, "Ingmar Bergman's films have moved, inspired and influenced a host of filmmakers and audiences across the world. It is no wonder that he is often called the greatest cinematic artist ever. It is only just that the nation that makes the largest quantity of films in the world each year, should also get the best quality films from across the world. On the first death anniversary of Bergman, this festival and box set is this nation's tribute to the great master." "Bergman is easily one of the best-known Swedes in the world and it is very heartening for me to be a part of the process to make sure that his work is accessible to his fans and film enthusiasts in India," said H.E. Lars-Olof Lindgren, Ambassador of Sweden to India. "What makes this Retrospective even more special for me, is the fact that we are all gathered to pay tribute to Mr Bergman, the man who has not just defined Swedish cinema for the world, but has contributed to shaping cinema as the world knows it too.'' Another high point of the Retrospective is the presence of Gunnar Bergdahl, Director of two documentaries made on Bergman - 'Intermezzo: Ingmar Bergman' and 'The Voices of Bergman' as well as a close friend of the filmmaker. Intermezzo will be screened for students of film and general public at workshops conducted by Mr Bergdahl in Delhi and Mumbai. Remembering Berman, Mr Bergdahl added, "I'm happy to have had the opportunity to share some time with him. He might be gone now, but his passion for the possibilities and challenges of filmmaking will be inspiring for ever. In fact, I once asked, 'Mr Bergman, don't you ever tire of watching all these films?' He laughed and said, 'Filmmaking is an expanding universe. The more you look, the more you find!\" Mohan Polamar, co-founder and Joint MD Palador Pictures said, "Bergman stormed into the World Cinema scene with two masterpieces in the same year, 1957. Such was the genius of this prolific director without whose name no discussion of cinema would ever be complete. It hurt us to know that masterpieces made by him and other great directors had never been available in this country to the masses. With this festival, I personally feel a sense of satisfaction about the number of people it is reaching out to across the country. When quality cinema as embodied by Bergman is widely seen and appreciated, quality cinema would end up being made as well." Supporting this endeavour, of making world cinema accessible to the Indian audiences, are partners ICICI, iMint, Indiaplaza, Inox, People Magazine, Myntra and Bright Advertising in India, and The Swedish Institute and the Swedish Film Institute in Sweden. About Ingmar Bergman: Ingmar Bergman is unquestionably among the best known Swedes in the world. He is not only Sweden's foremost filmmaker of all time, but is generally regarded as one of the foremost figures in the entire history of the cinematic arts. In fact, Bergman is among a relatively small, exclusive group of filmmakers-a Fellini, an Antonioni, a Tarkovsky-whose family names rarely need to be accompanied by a given name: "Bergman" is a concept, a kind of "brand name" in itself.
With nine personal Oscar nominations and three of his films winning the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Ingmar Bergman won every conceivable and coveted film award on the planet.
Festival Schedule:
Delhi - August 8-14 Kolkata - August 15-21 Chennai - August 22-28 Bangalore - August 29-September 4 Pune - September 5-11 Mumbai - September 12-18
About Palador: Palador began 4 years back as a movement to kick-start the tradition of great cinema in the Indian subcontinent. Today Palador has the largest collection of Foreign Language Cinema under one roof in Asia. Palador owns the most award winning films from the greatest directors the world has ever seen - from masters of yesteryears to today's: Kurosawa, Kieslowski, Godard, Bergman, Trauffaut, Kiarostami, Lynch etc. - to cinema in all genre: action, comedy, drama, documentary, short films etc. - to cinema from all movements: Italian Neo-Realism, French New Wave, Iranian New-Wave etc. But Palador is not just about the content. It's about programming them, to suit different needs of: TV Channels, Film Festivals, Corporates, Colleges, Clubs, Theatres etc. and of different media: DVD, TV, Internet, Theatre, Mobile etc. Palador was the first to focus on the short works of aspiring film makers, helping to popularize the concept and adoption of short film in the Indian media landscape. Palador is also the only in the world to program short films of aspiring as well as rare films of established film makers in the DVD movies of great directors. In short it is helping build a platform for freedom of expression for creators of good and great content in this nation. For more about the festival, visit: www.mypalador.com/festival For more information, please contact: Ms Saloni Zaver-Ahluwalia Embassy of Sweden New Delhi 110 001 +91 98995 75713 saloni.zaveri-ahluwalia@foreign.ministry.se
Abhinav K. Srivastava Comma Consulting Mumbai +91 9892323750 abhinav.srivastava@comma.in Appendix: Synopsis of Bergman Films (On Box Set as well as the DVD):
Wild Strawberries: Shaken by a foreboding dream, Professor Borg decides to drive, rather than fly to his felicitation function. His daughter-in-law accompanies him and makes no attempt to hide her dislike for his selfishness, despite his apparently amicable personality. On the way they give a ride to a young girl and her two suitors. These factors, and a visit to his mother, rekindle old memories and through sleep and waking dream, he becomes a spectator to his own past, through the wild strawberry patch of his youth. Summer Interlude: On an idyllic summer vacation, Marie falls in love with Henrik. But a tragic accident cuts short Henrik's life. Ten years later, at the height of her career as a successful Opera dancer, Marie remembers the ways in which that tragic summer changes her forever. She realizes that first love never dies, but something dies with first love. Music In Darkness: Rich and handsome Bengt loses hope after an accident leaves him blind. The darkness threatens his remaining impressions of sight, challenges his beliefs, and brings about a deafening silence. Even well intentioned relationships cause him self pity. Will Bengt drift away or will he find new music in his life? Bergman paints this man\'s fiery quest for sanity and survival with expressionist shades and challenges our convention of a gift we all take for granted, sight. Summer With Monika: Harry and Monika spend an innocent summer filled with uninhibited passions that leaves Monika pregnant. Harry struggles to give his family a good life but Monika\'s constant yearning for excitement, leaves her unfulfilled as a wife and mother. She forsakes them for an adventurous life. Left alone with their son, Harry treasures the memory of that summer, despite the pain it brings. This Naturalist film is Bergman\'s most sensual creation. Through A Glass Darkly: In the first installment of what later became famous as the 'faith trilogy', Ingmar Bergman profiles a fragile family on the verge of disintegration. The focal point is schizophrenic Karin who believes she\'ll have a vision of god. Her father has been using her for his book, the husband has tried to commit suicide, and her brother makes sexual overtones to her even as she slips into the abyss of her madness. This film won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1962. Winter Light: The second part of Bergman\'s Faith Trilogy has a small town pastor Tomas go about his duties mechanically. While trying to help a troubled fisherman, his own crisis of faith comes to light and he realizes that he has nothing but uncertainty to offer. Bergman profiles man\'s hunger for faith in a world where the existence of God itself is in question. The Silence: In the third installment of Ingmar Bergman\'s \'faith trilogy\', two sisters - the sick, intellectual Ester and the promiscuous, pragmatic Anna - while travelling with Anna\'s son Johan, find themselves in a foreign town. Language prevents them from talking to townsfolk, and their own emotional barrier brings about a silence between them. Young Johan is their only connecting link in a film where Bergman offers a disturbing view of emotional isolation in a faithless world. The Devil\'s Eye: A rare Bergman comedy, \'The Devil\'s Eye\' shows his penchant for humour. Resurrected from hell by the Devil, the legendary lover Don Juan\'s job is to seduce an innocent 20 year old Britt-Marie and rob her of her virginity and belief in love. However, Marie proves to be strong and successfully resists Don Juan, whose fate is finally sealed when he ends up falling helplessly in love with her. Intermezzo (An interview of Ingmar Bergman by Gunnar Bergdahl part of all the DVDs Above): One of the best known and most personal interviews of Bergman, it catches the master director speaking uninhibited about life, films and dreams... \"Creativity is an extraordinary help against destructive demons,\" says Bergman in the interview. Interviewer Gunnar Bergdahl is a writer, film critic, festival curator and founder-editor of the Swedish cinema magazine \'Filmkonst\'. This is his second Bergman interview.
Ingmar Bergman, Remembering Bergman: A Retrospective, Gunnar Bergdhal, Intermezzo, Lars-Olof Lindgren, Embassy of Sweden in India, World Cinema, Palador Pictures, Film Festival, Gautam Shiknis, Mohan Polamar, ICICI, iMint, Indiaplaza, Inox, People Magazine, Myntra, Bright Advertising, The Swedish Institute, Swedish Film Institute
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