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Showing now: Ingmar Bergman’s celluloid masterpieces

— Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam

In focus: Amshan Kumar, film director, having a word with Sr. Sarguna, Principal, Holy Cross College, at the inauguration of the Swedish film festival in Tiruchi on Thursday. Shirley Deepak (left), Head, Department of Visual Communication, looks on.

TIRUCHI: A two-day Swedish film festival, organised by the Department of Visual Communication of Holy Cross College, was a tribute to legendary film-maker Ingmar Bergman.

Two of his films Wild Strawberries (1957) and Fanny & Alexander (1982) were screened on Thursday. Wild Strawberries was a landmark film in Bergman’s career. It dealt about a man’ s isolation and, as in his other films, Bergman used journey as plot structure. Fanny & Alexander won an Oscar for the best foreign film and is considered to be Bergman’s most opulent and optimistic film.

Bergman, who directed more than 60 films and over 170 plays, passed away in July, aged 89.

Inaugurating the festival, film director Amshan Kumar said Bergman believed in conveying the story more through visuals than dialogues. “After watching his movies, what lingers in our minds are the strong visuals. In our cinema, we don’t have that kind of culture. We believe more in dialogues, since most of the filmmakers have a notion that if a particular mood is conveyed visually, it might not reach the audience.”

Mr. Amshan, who directed the critically acclaimed film, Orruthi, said Bergman’s works were not political and that might have been because of Sweden’s neutral stand during the World Wars.

Students of Jamal Mohammed College, Bishop Heber College, Periyar EVR College and Cauvery College participated in the festival.

Principal of Holy Cross College Sr. Sarguna and head of the Department of Visual Communication Shirley Deepak spoke.

Bergman’s other classics, Seventh Seal (1957) and Cries and Whispers (1973), will be screened on Friday.

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