Alf Sjöberg

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.