Case study Sweden - Bergman and beyond? Current heritage issues in Sweden

As the guest country of the eleventh edition of the International Classical Film Market, Sweden was the focus of a case study on Wednesday, October 18. Danial Brännström, Rickard Gramfors and Agneta Perman, guided by Camille Blot-Wellens, took the time to report on the current state of heritage in Ingmar Bergman's homeland.

The origins of Swedish heritage

As an introduction, Camille Blot-Wellens took the audience back to the origins of Swedish heritage. A film historian, archivist and independent restorer, she dated the beginning of the movement to create archives in Sweden to October 1933. Eclectic, surviving on municipal and private funds, it became institutionalized in 1963, with the creation of the Swedish Film Institute. The latter receives state subsidies and absorbed the collections in 1964. 

She also spoke of the work of the country's canonical filmmakers, who were heavily involved in the movement to create archives in Sweden. Camille Blot-Wellens, for example, cited the creation of the Ingmar Bergman Foundation in 2002.

In 2012, the transition to digital marks a turning point in distribution, with the almost total disappearance of analog projectors. With government support, the Swedish Film Institute financed a digital laboratory to digitize and preserve the works in its archives.

A fragmented heritage

As the round table focused on the current state of Swedish heritage beyond Bergman's cinema, the importance of framing this heritage quickly became apparent. A diverse heritage emerged, made up of films deemed "classic" by Rickard Gamfors of Cultpix, and genre films. 

Non-film archives, such as advertisements, also make up the Swedish film heritage, collected by the Swedish Film Institute, embodied during this case study by Danial Brännström. 

There are also recent heritage archives, made up of early digital films, even though almost 40% of digital works have disappeared since their creation.

Bergman's legacy lives on 

If the discussion were to extend beyond Ingmar Bergman's cinephilia, the influence of his legacy on Swedish heritage remains undeniable. Danial Brännström explains how the centenary of the filmmaker's birth has benefited the Swedish Film Institute. A total of 7,700 screenings were organized in 82 countries, including territories with which the institution had never collaborated, thus renewing their network of contacts. 

The anniversary required the Institute to prioritize the restoration of the director's works, which may have cast a shadow over the rest of the country's heritage. Since then, the person in charge has assured us that the entity is turning its attention to new artists.

What's more, the event was an opportunity for foreign viewers to take an interest in the rest of Sweden's heritage, thus going beyond the confines of Bergman's cinema.

Restoration players in Sweden

As far as heritage players are concerned, the State is the leading investor in classic cinema, with a budget of 8 million euros allocated to the Swedish Film Institute. An endowment that has remained stable for several years but does not consider rising costs due to inflation, explains Danial Brännström. A necessary support, according to the head of the Institute. 

The Institute is another major contributor to the country's heritage, both in terms of its archive work and its commitments: its mainstays are film funding, support for cinemas and investment in screening venues. For Danial Brännström, “there comes a time when everyday things become heritage”, and cinemas are part of that heritage. The Institute has also launched, with the help of the French government, the creation of a digital laboratory, to better preserve the works in its collection. 

Platforms and television are also very beneficial to the export and discovery of Swedish heritage. Cultpix, for example, allows us to discover almost 1,200 genre films, says Rickard Gramfors, while Agneta Perman talks about the programming of SVT International. This channel has shown classic films, despite a strict broadcasting charter.

The challenges of distribution 

While Sweden's cinematic heritage is gradually emerging from the shadow of Ingmar Bergman, many challenges remain, not least the distribution of heritage films. A challenge for cinemas, with screening venues in difficulty, as technological advances make it impossible for certain prints to last over time.

VOD is a counterbalance, offering the possibility of distributing little-known works to as many people as possible. This is the case with Cultpix, which organizes thematic weeks and offers its subscribers the chance to discover niche, less popular Swedish films. 

Finally, television offers a solution to the problem of distributing heritage films. For example, Agneta Perman explains how programming has evolved over the years. When she started at SVT, the films programmed dated back to the 1930s or 1940s, as they were in line with audiovisual broadcasting restrictions. They were shown in the afternoon. Since then, films have been programmed in the morning, and while SVT would like to show more contemporary titles from the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s, they don't fit in as well with the broadcasting charter to which the audiovisual sector is bound. This is a challenge that SVT must overcome if it is to continue programming classic films on television.