Where to begin with Ingmar Bergman? In his 59 years as a filmmaker (1944-2003), the prolific Swedish director wrote and/or directed more than 60 films. It’s a daunting figure for newcomers, but not bad going for a filmmaker who considered cinema to be merely his ‘mistress’ to his true love, theatre.

Maybe more than any other filmmaker, Bergman used cinema as an exploration (or exorcism) of personal demons. His recurring themes of harsh parenting, infidelity, death, humiliation and faith were all seemingly ever-present concerns in his own life. It’s perhaps this deeply personal connection that made Bergman such an expert at exploring the psyche on screen – this, and a refusal to turn away from uncomfortable truths about human nature. And if Bergman’s work is sometimes considered hard to watch, it’s because he forces us to confront aspects of ourselves that we would rather shy away from.

2018 marks the centenary of Bergman’s birth and we are marking the occasion with a selection of landmark films from this touchstone director who can rightly be considered as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Plus on Sun 25 March join film programmer, and half-Swede Dr Peter Walsh for an illustrated talk, to pick apart the man and his life, and how this all played out in his films.

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