Actor Josephson Will Discuss His Film Career

Noted Swedish actor, director and writer Erland Josephson will be in Cambridge today to discuss his experience working with famous film directors like Ingmar Bergman and Andrei Tarkovsky.

One of Sweden's best known Swedish theatrical talents, Josephson will lead the discussion at 4 p.m. today at the Carpenter Center as part of the Learning for Performers Program of the Office of the Arts.

Josephson began his career as a stage actor in 1945, working under Ingmar Bergman and later moving to Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theatre, where he eventually replaced Bergman as the theatre's head.

But most Americans probably know him for his film career-he worked with Bergman on several films, most notably "Scenes from a Marriage" and "Face to Face" and has worked with other well-known directors, including Damiano Damiani, Liliana Cavani, Franco Brusati, and Dusan Makaveyjev.

Susan A. Zielinski, the coordinator of the program sponsoring Josephson's visit, said his coming to speak is particularly valuable since he has worked with such a large number of European directors.

Vlada Petric, the director of the Harvard Film Archives, said that the idea of bringing Josephson to Harvard grew out of his "Film and Dreams" course, which includes a detailed study of dream sequences in Bergman films, such as "Hour of the Wolf," in which Josephson stars.

Petric called Josephson "one of those rare actors who can critically evaluate the process of his creation, [as well as being] a writer, a dramatist, and a director."