World Premiere at Cannes for Bo Widerberg documentary

Being Bo Widerberg by Jon Asp and Mattias Nohrborg. Photo: Jan Delden / TT

Today, it was announced that the Swedish documentary Being Bo Widerberg by Jon Asp and Mattias Nohrborg will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The film has been selected for Cannes Classics, making it the seventh Swedish film to be shown in this section over the years.

Being Bo Widerberg tells the story of the acclaimed and eccentric director who, in the shadow of Ingmar Bergman, became Sweden’s most influential filmmaker. The film depicts Widerberg during the progressive early 1960s, from his beginnings as an aspiring author and a harsh critic in working-class Malmo to his prime as a celebrated film auteur in Stockholm, leading to adventures in Cannes and New York. The film also illustrates the consequences of Bo Widerberg’s career – or rather his passionate pursuit of life – on his colleagues, his family, and himself.

– Bo Widerberg was driven by passion, and to be able to immerse ourselves in his universe for a few years has truly been a joyful experience. We hope that Being Bo Widerberg can nuance the image of Bo Widerberg in various directions, and not least inspire new generations to discover his works. To be able to show the film in Cannes, where Widerberg returned as often as he could, even when he didn't have a film there, is somewhat like closing the circle – Bo Widerberg is resurrected where he belongs, says the directors Jon Asp and Mattias Norhborg.

Cannes Classics was introduced at the festival in 2004 with the aim of highlighting classic films and promoting film heritage. The section presents new restorations, tribute screenings to international filmmakers and national film heritages, as well as documentaries about film. Being Bo Widerberg is the seventh Swedish film over the years to be selected to be shown in the prestigious program. Previous Swedish films to be selected include Marie Nyreröd's Ingmar Bergman Complete (2005), Stig Björkman's three documentaries Images from the Playground (2009), ... but Film is My Mistress (2010) and I Am Ingrid (2015), as well as Jane Magnusson's Bergman – A Year, A Life (2018) and Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957) – both shown in connection with the director's centennial.

Being Bo Widerberg is directed by Jon Asp and Mattias Nohrborg. Asp also wrote the screenplay, and Nohrborg produced the film through B-Reel Films, in co-production with SVT, Film i Skåne, and Film Stockholm, with support from the Swedish Film Institute’s film commissioner Anna Weitz.

Pia Degermark and Tommy Berggren, the couple in Widerberg's Elvira Madigan (1967), for which Degermark received the Best Actress Award in Cannes, and who both appear in the documentary film, will attend the premiere on Thursday, May 15.

The film will have a wide release in France on June 11 via Malavida Films, and is distributed in Sweden by TriArt Film, with a planned theatrical release in fall 2025.

Read more about the competing Swedish films in Cannes in the press release below.