Searching for Ingmar Bergman

The great Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman was her guiding light, and now, in her mid-seventies, Margarethe von Trotta is herself a veteran filmmaker with a distinctive voice and an example for talented young filmmakers. This German director was greatly affected by Bergman’s engagement with existential questions, his characteristic film locations and his eye for actors.

In this film, Von Trotta immerses herself in the master’s work and examines his approach and recurring themes from a variety of perspectives. Key iconic scenes from his body of work are complemented by archive footage in which we see Bergman, who died in 2007, either in action or talking about his films. Von Trotta herself travels all over the country to talk to Bergman’s family and colleagues about the artist's work, and about the man behind the artist. What is his cultural legacy? What was it like to work on the set with Bergman? What kind of father was he? In this exploration of the work and life of her “mentor,” Von Trotta also illuminates her own path as one of her generation’s pioneering female filmmakers.