Ingmar Bergman
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Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the greatest and most important filmmakers in the history of cinema, most notably as a prominent figure of both European film industry and Swedish cinema. His films have been described as "profoundly personal meditations into the myriad struggles facing the psyche and the soul." Among his most acclaimed works are The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), Persona (1966) and Fanny and Alexander (1982), which were included in the 2012 edition of Sight & Sound's Greatest Films of All Time. He was also ranked No. 8 on the magazine's 2002 "Greatest Directors of All Time" list. Other notable works include Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), A Lesson in Love (1954), Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), The Virgin Spring (1960), Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Winter Light and The Silence (both 1963), Shame (1968) which was called the director's ultimate personal vision of war, Cries and Whispers (1972), Scenes from a Marriage (1973) and Autumn Sonata (1978). His films led to international acclaim and garnered Academy Award wins and nominations throughout his career, including his personal Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award and three competitive wins accepted for Best Foreign Language Film to Swedish entries. Bergman directed more than 60 films and documentaries, most of which he also wrote, for both cinema releases and television screenings. Most of his films were set in Sweden, and many of his films from 1961 onward were filmed on the island of Fårö. He forged a creative partnership with his cinematographers Gunnar Fischer and Sven Nykvist. Bergman also had a theatrical career that included periods as Leading Director of Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm and of Germany's Residenztheater in Munich. He directed more than 170 plays. Among his company of actors were Harriet Andersson, Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Gunnar Björnstrand, Erland Josephson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom and Max von Sydow.