Vardo Films

★  ★  ★  ½

"The film is so accessible and relatable to anyone who has ever been in love. It’s one of, if not, the best documentary this year. It’s well-made, dynamic, and one of the more unique subjects tackled this year. Liv & Ingmar is spectacular and the best film of the New York Film Festival so far."

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“Dheeraj Akolkar’s worshipful documentary… snippets from Bergman films skillfully used to illustrate the shadowy line between art and autobiography in many of them, Ms. Ullmann’s face registers an astounding emotional transparency… [a] likably sentimental film”

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"a lovely and lyrical documentary about [a] passionate, mutually inspiring yet fraught relationship"

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“…you feel the gravity of the couple's life together. Liv & Ingmar is an anecdotal treasure chest for cinephiles, but more than that, it's a beautifully told love story.”

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"Beautifully shot doc offers an intimate look at the famous director/star romance"

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★  ★  ★

“What keeps Ullmann's account from the realm of celebrity narcissism is director Dheeraj Akolkar's delicate approach to his subject… Liv & Ingmar not only humanizes Bergman as the absent lover-cum-father of everyday life, but works as a priceless oral history of cinema.”

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“...you have to keep knocking on those doors. It may hurt, it may hurt a lot, but keep knocking. Because one day, one of those doors opens!”

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“That an Indian filmmaker should be given the privilege of putting Munch’s stormy life on screen is a matter of great pride for all Indians.”

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“I look at cinema very spatially— when I’m writing the script; when I’m sitting with my editor, or when I’m editing my notes, I unconsciously use architecture as a guide.”

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“I love to travel and make films… That makes me a nomad I guess. But then I am a gypsy at heart. The name of my company is Vardo Films, and ‘vardo’ means a gypsy caravan for a group of artistic people tied to an eternal journey!”

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“one of the greatest self realisations that this film gifted me was the knowledge that it is possible! It is possible to make a film you believe in making… to make it the way you believe it ought to be made… to do it right. It takes time, but that time helps the film more than anything else.”

David Friend sits down to chat with filmmaker Dheeraj Akolkar about his documentary Liv & Ingmar, and about how he convinced actress Liv Ullmann to join the project. The conversation then shifts to the legacy of Ingmar Bergman.