Roy Andersson

Infobox actor
name = Roy Andersson
birthdate = birth date and age|1943|03|31|df=y
birthplace = Gothenburg SWE
deathdate =
deathplace =
othername =
occupation = Film director
yearsactive = 1967 - present
imdb_id = 0027815

Roy Andersson (born 31 March 1943) is a Swedish film director, best known for his films "A Swedish Love Story" and "Songs from the Second Floor." More than any other, "Songs from the Second Floor" succeeded in cementing his personal style — a style characterized by long takes, absurdist comedy, stiff caricaturing of Swedish culture and Felliniesque grotesque. He has spent much of his professional life working on advertisement spots, directing over 400 commercials and 2 short films, but only directing 4 major, feature-length films in three decades. His latest movie is "You, the Living" (Du levande), from 2007.

Early years

Later described by the "Village Voice" as a "slapstick Ingmar Bergman”, Roy Andersson was born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1943. A year after graduating from the Swedish Film Institute in 1969, he directed his first feature-length film, "A Swedish Love Story." The film, awarded four prizes the same year at the International Film Festival in Berlin, looked at the nature and nuance of young love and turned out to be a major critical and popular success for Andersson. Riding on this success, Andersson directed the film "Giliap" which was released in 1975. The film was a financial and critical disaster, went wildly over budget, and suffered lengthy delays in post-production. "Giliap" went in a decidedly different direction than "A Swedish Love Story" -- replacing crowd-pleasing joy and soft humour with dark comedy and unforgiving deadpan. After "Giliap", Andersson would take a 25-year break from film directing, focusing his efforts mainly on his commercial work.

Later years

In 1981 he established Studio 24, an independent film company and studio located in central Stockholm. Later, he directed a short-film commissioned by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare entitled "Something has Happened." Made in 1987, the short was meant to be played at schools all over Sweden as a public service announcement about AIDS, but was cancelled when it was three-fourths complete because of its overly dark and controversial nature. The official explanation was that it was "too dark in its message," and it wasn't officially shown until 1993. His next short film, 1991's "World of Glory", developed this style even further and was a critical success, winning both the Canal Plus Award and the prestigious Press Prize at the 1992 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. The film is on a top ten list of all time best short films, set by the Clermont Ferrand festival.

In March 1996, Andersson began filming "Songs from the Second Floor", a film that was to be completed four years later in May 2000. After its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival the film also became an international critical success. It won the Jury Prize in Cannes 2000 and five Guldbagge Awards in Sweden for best film, direction, cinematography, screenplay and sound. The film was made up of forty-six long tableaux shots, marrying tough, bleak social criticism with his characteristic absurdist dead-pan and surrealism.

Roy Andersson continues his commercial work at Studio 24 and, as of 2005. His latest film You, the Living (Du levande), premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, as part of the "Un Certain Regard" selection.

Works

Notes

External links

* [http://www.royandersson.com/ Studio 24 & Roy Andersson Production] - Official site
* [http://www.thecontext.com/docsi/2692.html thecontext.com] - Interview with Roy Andersson

Persondata
NAME= Andersson, Roy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Film director
DATE OF BIRTH= March 31, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH= Gothenburg SWE
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=