FILM DIRECTORS from Sweden

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Swedish Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Swedish Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Swedish Film Directors.

1. Ingmar Bergman (1918 - 2007)

With an HPI of 83.10, Ingmar Bergman is the most famous Swedish Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 130 different languages on wikipedia.

Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, 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), Cries and Whispers (1972), Scenes from a Marriage (1973) and Autumn Sonata (1978). 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. Bertrand Tavernier said: “Bergman was the first to bring metaphysics — religion, death, existentialism — to the screen. But the best of Bergman is the way he speaks of women, of the relationship between men and women. He’s like a miner digging in search of purity.”

2. Lasse Hallström (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 63.24, Lasse Hallström is the 2nd most famous Swedish Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (Swedish: [ˈlâsːɛ ˈhâlːstrœm]; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop group ABBA, and subsequently became a feature film director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for My Life as a Dog (Mitt liv som hund) (1985) and later for The Cider House Rules (1999). His other celebrated directorial works include What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and Chocolat (2000).

3. Victor Sjöström (1879 - 1960)

With an HPI of 62.54, Victor Sjöström is the 3rd most famous Swedish Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Victor David Sjöström (Swedish: [ˈvɪ̌kːtɔr ˈɧø̂ːstrœm] ; 20 September 1879 – 3 January 1960), also known in the United States as Victor Seastrom, was a pioneering Swedish film director, screenwriter, and actor. He began his career in Sweden, before moving to Hollywood in 1924. Sjöström worked primarily in the silent era; his best known films include The Phantom Carriage (1921), He Who Gets Slapped (1924), and The Wind (1928). Sjöström was Sweden's most prominent director in the "Golden Age of Silent Film" in Europe. Later in life, he played the leading role in Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries (1957).

4. Roy Andersson (b. 1943)

With an HPI of 62.00, Roy Andersson is the 4th most famous Swedish Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Roy Arne Lennart Andersson (born 31 March 1943) is a Swedish film director, best known for his distinctive style of absurdist humor and melancholic depictions of human life. His personal style is characterized by long takes, and stiff caricaturing of Swedish culture and grotesque. Over his career Andersson earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival and Venice International Film Festival. Andersson spent much of his professional life working on advertisement spots, directing over 400 commercials and two short films; directing six feature-length films in six decades. He made his feature film debut with A Swedish Love Story (1970) followed by Giliap (1975). Anderson received the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize for Songs from the Second Floor (2000). His film A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) won the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion. His other notable films include You, the Living (2007), and About Endlessness (2019).

5. Sven Nykvist (1922 - 2006)

With an HPI of 58.42, Sven Nykvist is the 5th most famous Swedish Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Sven Vilhem Nykvist (Swedish pronunciation: [svɛn ˈvɪ̌lːhɛlm ˈnŷːkvɪst]; 3 December 1922 – 20 September 2006) was a Swedish cinematographer and filmmaker. His work is generally noted for its naturalism and simplicity. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest cinematographers of all time. He is best known for his collaboration with director Ingmar Bergman. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Cries and Whispers (1972) and Fanny and Alexander (1982). Nykvist also worked with Bergman on The Virgin Spring (1960), Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Winter Light (1963), Persona (1966), Cries and Whispers (1973), Scenes from a Marriage (1973), Face to Face (1978), and Autumn Sonata (1978). Nykvist is also known for his collaboration with Woody Allen, working on films such as Another Woman (1988), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), and Celebrity (1998). His other film credits include The Tenant (1976), Agnes of God (1985), The Sacrifice (1986), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), Chaplin (1992), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993).

6. Bo Widerberg (1930 - 1997)

With an HPI of 55.50, Bo Widerberg is the 6th most famous Swedish Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Bo Gunnar Widerberg (Swedish: [ˈbuː ˈvîːdɛrbærj]; 8 June 1930 – 1 May 1997) was a Swedish film director, writer, editor and actor.

7. Alf Sjöberg (1903 - 1980)

With an HPI of 54.59, Alf Sjöberg is the 7th most famous Swedish Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Sven Erik Alf Sjöberg (21 June 1903 – 17 April 1980) was a Swedish theatre and film director. He won the Grand Prix du Festival at the Cannes Film Festival twice: in 1946 for Torment (Swedish: Hets) (part of an eleven-way tie), and in 1951 for his film Miss Julie (Swedish: Fröken Julie) (an adaptation of August Strindberg's play which tied with Vittorio De Sica's Miracle in Milan). Despite his success with those films, Sjöberg was foremost a stage director, perhaps the greatest at the Royal Dramatic Theatre (alongside first Olof Molander and later Ingmar Bergman). He was a First Director of Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre between 1930 and 1980; he staged there many remarkable and historic productions. Sjöberg was also a pioneer director of drama for early Swedish TV (his 1955 TV production of Hamlet is a national milestone). At the 3rd Guldbagge Awards Sjöberg won the award for Best Director for the film Ön. Sjöberg died in a car accident on his way to rehearsal at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm.

8. Jan Troell (b. 1931)

With an HPI of 54.55, Jan Troell is the 8th most famous Swedish Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Jan Gustaf Troell (born 23 July 1931) is a Swedish writer-director and cinematographer. His realistic films, with a lyrical photography in which nature is prominent, have placed him in the first rank of modern Swedish film directors along with Ingmar Bergman and Bo Widerberg.

9. Vilgot Sjöman (1924 - 2006)

With an HPI of 51.92, Vilgot Sjöman is the 9th most famous Swedish Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

David Harald Vilgot Sjöman (2 December 1924 – 9 April 2006) was a Swedish writer and film director. His films deal with controversial issues of social class, morality, and sexual taboos, combining the emotionally tortured characters of Ingmar Bergman with the avant garde style of the French New Wave. He is best known as the director of the films 491 (1964), I Am Curious (Yellow) (in Swedish, "Jag är nyfiken – gul") (1967), and I Am Curious (Blue) ("Jag är nyfiken – blå") (1968), which stretched the boundaries of acceptability of what could then be shown on film, deliberately treating their subjects in a provocative and explicit manner.

10. Ruben Östlund (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 51.66, Ruben Östlund is the 10th most famous Swedish Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Ruben Östlund (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈrʉːbɛn ˈœstlɵnd]) (born 13 April 1974) is a Swedish filmmaker best known for his satirical black comedy films Force Majeure (2014), The Square (2017) and Triangle of Sadness (2022). He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Palmes d'Or, four European Film Awards and nominations for three Academy Awards.