The Ingmar Bergman Archives

On November 24, 2008 The Ingmar Bergman Archives editors Paul Duncan and Bengt Wanselius won the August Prize 2008 for the Best Non-Fiction Book published in Sweden. This is the most prestigious literary prize in Sweden, voted for by booksellers and librarians throughout the country.

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. 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 TASCHEN and the Swedish publishing house Max Ström 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years, scoured photo archives all over Sweden, discovered previously unseen images from Bergman’s films, and selected unpublished images from the personal archives of many photographers.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 Åberg & Birgitta Steene (for theater) - 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 an original 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 Theater, as well as many other institutions, publishers, and newspapers, making this not only the most complete book ever published on Ingmar Bergman, but also about an individual director.

Special bonuses

* an original film strip from a copy of Fanny and Alexander (1982) that has been played on Bergman’s own film projector.
* a DVD containing over 110 minutes of new and rare documentary footage: Bergman’s On Set Home Movies (18 mins, with commentary by Marie Nyreröd); Behind the scenes of Autumn Sonata (20 mins); An Image Maker (32 mins), behind the scenes of The Image Makers by Bengt Wanselius; and A Video Diary of Saraband (44 mins), assistant director Torbjörn Ehrnvall’s video diary from Bergman’s last film, in which Bergman talks about his life and work.