Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish filmmaker and dramatist. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known as "profoundly personal meditations into the myriad struggles facing the psyche and the soul." Some of his most acclaimed works include The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), Persona (1966), and Fanny and Alexander (1982); these four films were included in the Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2012 critics poll. Bergman was ranked 8th in Sight & Sound's 2002 poll of The Greatest Directors of All Time.

Bergman directed more than 60 films and documentaries for cinematic release and for television screenings, most of which he also wrote. Most of his films were set in Sweden, and many films from 1961 onward were filmed on the island of Fårö. He also had a theatrical career that ran in parallel with his film career. It included periods as Leading Director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm and of the Residenztheater in Munich. He directed more than 170 plays. He forged a creative partnership with his cinematographers Gunnar Fischer and Sven Nykvist. Among his company of actors were Harriet Andersson, Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Gunnar Björnstrand, Erland Josephson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom and Max von Sydow.