Roy Andersson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Roy Andersson
Roy Andersson in 2014.
Born	Roy Arne Lennart Andersson (1943-03-31) 31 March 1943 (age 82) Gothenburg, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1967–present

Roy Arne Lennart Andersson, born on March 31, 1943, is a famous Swedish film director. He is known for his unique movies that often show funny, strange, or a bit sad parts of human life. His films use long, steady camera shots. They also show funny, exaggerated versions of Swedish culture.

Over his career, Andersson has won many important awards. These include prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and Venice International Film Festival.

Before becoming a well-known director, Andersson made over 400 commercials. He also directed two short films. He has made six full-length movies over six decades. His first feature film was A Swedish Love Story (1970). This was followed by Giliap (1975).

Andersson won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his film Songs from the Second Floor (2000). His movie A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) won the top award, the Golden Lion, at the Venice International Film Festival. Other important films he directed include You, the Living (2007) and About Endlessness (2019).

Early Life and Education

Roy Arne Lennart Andersson was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. His birthday is March 31, 1943.

He first studied literature and philosophy at university. Then, in 1967, he joined the Swedish Film Institute Film School. This is where he learned how to make movies.

Career Highlights

Starting His Film Journey (1969–1992)

Andersson directed his first full-length movie, A Swedish Love Story, in 1969. This film was a big success. It won four awards at the 20th Berlin International Film Festival. The movie explored what young love is like.

After this success, Andersson felt a bit lost. He didn't want to make the same kind of movies again. He stopped working on his next film idea. He eventually directed Giliap, which came out in 1975. This film did not do well with critics or financially.

After Giliap, Andersson took a long break from directing movies. For 25 years, he mostly focused on making commercials.

In 1981, he started his own film company called Studio 24. It was located in central Stockholm. Later, he made a short film called Something Happened in 1987. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare asked him to make it. It was meant to be an educational film about AIDS for schools. However, it was stopped because it was too dark. It was not officially shown until 1993.

His next short film, World of Glory (1991), was very successful. It won awards at the 1992 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. This film is even on a list of the top ten best short films ever.

Later Works and Awards (1996–Present)

In March 1996, Andersson began filming Songs from the Second Floor. This movie took four years to finish, coming out in May 2000. When it first showed at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, it was a big hit with critics worldwide.

The film won the Jury Prize at Cannes. It also won five Guldbagge Awards in Sweden. These awards were for best film, direction, camera work, screenplay, and sound. The movie used 46 long, still shots. It combined strong social criticism with Andersson's unique, strange, and funny style.

Andersson continued making commercials at Studio 24. His next film, You, the Living, premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It was part of the Un Certain Regard section. The film won the Nordic Council Film Prize in 2008. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City showed a special collection of Andersson's films in September 2009.

He wanted to make a third film to complete a trilogy with his two previous movies. He planned it to be a "deep and fantastic, humorous and tragic, philosophical" film. This film, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, was released in 2014. It won the Golden Lion for Best Film at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.

In 2015, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City also showed a collection of his work. It was called It's Hard to Be Human: The Cinema of Roy Andersson.

His sixth film, About Endlessness, came out in 2019. It won the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. Critics praised the film for its unique style. It showed human weaknesses and moments of sadness and humor.

Influences on His Work

Andersson has said that Italian neorealism and the Czech New Wave greatly influenced his films. He also found inspiration from artists like Spanish painter Francisco Goya and Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel. Directors like Italian Federico Fellini and French filmmaker Jacques Tati also influenced him.

In 2012, Andersson took part in the Sight & Sound film polls. These polls happen every ten years to find the greatest films of all time. Directors choose their top ten films. Andersson said his choices were "excellent and fascinating artistic expressions about what I would call mankind’s both raw and delightful existence." He added that Bicycle Thieves was his favorite. He called it "the most humanistic and political film in history." He also said Viridiana was the most intelligent and Hiroshima Mon Amour was the most poetic.

Here are the films he chose, listed in alphabetical order:

Awards and Honors

Roy Andersson is seen as one of the most important living European film directors. Four of his films were officially sent to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as Swedish entries.

His 2014 film A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence won the Golden Lion award. This happened at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. This made Andersson the only Swedish director to win this award. He was also only the second Nordic director to win it. The first was Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer in 1955.

Here are some of his awards:

• 2000: "Stig Dagerman Prize"
• 2000: Jury Prize from Cannes Film Festival for Songs from the Second Floor
• 2010: Lenin Award
• 2014: "Golden Lion for Best Film" for A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (71st Venice International Film Festival)
• 2020: Lifetime Achievement Award (Odesa International Film Festival)

Filmography

Films

Short films

Commercials

See also

In Spanish: Roy Andersson para niños