The legendary five-time Academy-Award-nominated Swedish director of such classics as The Emigrants and The New Land talks to us about his latest film, Everlasting Moments, based on a true story about a young working-class woman in the early 1900s who finds a great passion in photography that changes her life.

How did Everlasting Moments come about? And why did you want to make this particular film?

JT: It started with my wife. It's based on a true story. Maria Larsson was my wife’s grandfather's sister. I think it was 1986 that my wife interviewed her relative, Maria's eldest daughter, who was still alive at the time. During the last six years of her daughter's life, my wife interviewed her on the telephone and sometimes by meeting her. She got about one hundred hours of interviews. And during this time she told me about the incidents and things about the people in the story and that fascinated me. So, I asked my wife if we could make a film based on it. So, then I started.

You seem to be drawn to autobiographical/biographical tales. Would you say there is more pressure making a film based on a true story?

JT: Obviously, it does fascinate me to know that this has really happened. Still, of course, you can never reach a documentary truth and, maybe, you do not wish that. But for me, it is good to know that this could be true. And in this case, about Maria Larsson, there was one thing that fascinated me, especially, and that was her interest in photography because it started in a similar way to me. When I was fourteen I started taking pictures and developed in the closet at home.

You mentioned that you have drawn on childhood memories to make this film, so would that be one example of that?

JT: Yes, absolutely.

This period in Swedish history is of great interest. Did you learn anything new about the history of this time?

JT: Well, of course, details. But I knew roughly about it and as I grew up in a middle-class family, my father was a dentist but we lived in a working-class area in a house of our own with a garden. So, my playmates and schoolmates were usually working-class kids. So, I had seen how they lived and compared it to the way I and my brothers lived. I wanted for many years to have the chance to make a film based partly on my childhood memories, and this came close to that.

As you say, you are interested in photography. Are there any particular photographers that you admire at the moment? Any exhibitions that you have recently seen, or plan to see?

JT: Most important to me… was my closest friend who inspired me very much. He died a year ago, Georg Oddner. He was a very good photographer. Most important teacher was the American who also died a year ago, one of the most well known in fashion and everything else, Richard Avedon. There are so many American and different photographers who have inspired me - and still do inspire me.

What type of photography are you particularly drawn to - still life, people, characters?

JT: People is what I like most…

…capturing their moments?

JT: Yes, that's right. There is some modern photography that I can’t say I appreciate much.

You write, shoot and direct your own films, like Everlasting Moments. Is this because you like to have more control over the final piece, or it is a consequence of you having done documentary film-making in the past?

JT: The last thing is what it is, exactly! It is a consequence of me starting with a camera in my hand. Also, when I went into moving images, I borrowed a 16mm camera and made my first short film. When I was on my own, photography was the opening for me and I have not wanted to leave that. So, I still operate the camera in my films. That is important for me.

You have had a very long film career. Any more plans to make any more documentaries? Or anything you still want to capture on film that you have not captured yet?

JT: I am working on a script now that, hopefully, we will start shooting next year. It is based on a Swedish newspaper man. His name was Torgny Segerstedt. He played a very important part during World War II. He was the head of a daily newspaper and he took up the fight against Hitler and Marxism. He became a very controversial person during the war because the Swedish government were afraid that he was risking the Swedish neutrality to the point where Hitler would get furious enough to attack us.

What have you managed to reference, in order to write the script?

JT: There are several books written on him, but we have also found fascinating material in letters at the University library in Gothenburg. We are just working on that now. So, I think it is fantastic to work with the material that we find new things that are not known to people about this person. So, I think it can become a portrait.

Are you finding you are changing the script as you go along, as you are discovering new material?

JT: Very much so!

When does shooting start?

JT: I hope in about a year from now. As it is a period film, it will take a lot of time for the art director or cinematographer to find the places and so on, and the finances take a lot of time, too.

Are you finding it tougher in this economic climate to get an audience for any new ideas?

JT: Most of my films after The Emigrants have been difficult to finance. Some of them have taken up to fifteen years! During that time, of course, I have been doing other things, other films! But, still, it is difficult because if you’re not dealing with material that seems to be very commercial, then it is difficult. And at the first look, it is definitely not commercial. I didn’t think that Maria Larrsson was either, but we had a dedicated producer who was able to raise the money.

Everlasting Moments' strong female protagonist, Maria, is such an appealing character, even nowadays, coming up against the odds and achieving something, considering her poor background - especially as a female viewer…

JT: Thank you. I have been surprised that many young people also seem to appreciate the film...

Everlasting Moments comes to UK screens on 22nd May.

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