INGMAR BERGMAN - PRIME MINISTER OFFERS $3 MILLION TO PRESERVE BERGMAN'S FILMS

LATEST: Swedish Prime Minister FREDRIK REINFELDT and his Culture Minister LENA ADELSOHN LILJEROTH have committed $3 million (GBP1.5 million) to preserve the works of late film icon INGMAR BERGMAN. The move, announced on Monday (03Sep07), comes after the Swedish government was criticised for not caring about Bergman's films by officials at the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, who are struggling to find the resources to digitalise the filmmaker's archive. Writing in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, Adelsohn Liljeroth, states, "The rich output of films and television drama contributed by Ingmar Bergman make up an important part of our cultural heritage." The statement came just hours before Bergman, who died on 30 July (07), was to be commemorated at Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre.