INGMAR BERGMAN - BERGMAN ARCHIVE ISSUES PLEA FOR FUNDING

BERGMAN ARCHIVE ISSUES PLEA FOR FUNDING

Officials at the INGMAR BERGMAN archive in Sweden have issued a plea for funding just one week after the legendary director died. The Persona filmmaker, who passed away on 30 July (07), aged 89, wrote his notes on paper so thin it's impossible for archivists to look through them, which is proving to be a major headache for those protecting the movie mogul's legacy. Although the Swedish government provides the archive with an annual grant of two million kroner ($250,000/GBP125,000), officials claim they need a further 4.8 million kroner ($600,000/GBP300,000) to digitise Bergman's papers. Archive spokeswoman Astrid Soderberg-Widing tells trade paper Daily Variety, "I think we will be able to keep the archive and webpage running, but to digitise the archives, we need at least another $600,000. "It's an international scandal that the Swedish state does not seem interested in providing the money we lack."