Liv Ullmann Reflects on Working with Jan Troell

The Emigrants and The New Land, the incredible pair of films made by Swedish director Jan Troell in the early 1970s, remain among the most authentic and powerful portrayals of the mid-nineteenth-century wave of emigration from Europe to the United States. Together, the two dramas form a sprawling six-and-a-half-hour saga about a Swedish farming family’s voyage to America in search of a better life. Starring Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow, in the primes of their careers, Troell’s emotionally absorbing films capture the fictional Karl Oskar and Kristina’s harrowing journey to a new home in rural Minnesota, and the profound hardships they encounter upon their arrival. For our release of these films, we were fortunate to have the chance to speak with Ullmann, who recounted her experience working on the movies. In the clip below, watch the actor reflect on Troell’s filmmaking genius, as revealed in one of The Emigrants’ most poignant scenes.