Troell is a Swedish director, screenwriter, editor and cinematographer. Originally he was a teacher and started to work on film as an amateur helping students make films. Since 1958, he has been making short films, and two years later he directed a TV film. In early 1960’s he worked with the director Bo Widerberg on his films. In 1965, he directed his first feature film
Here's Your Life (Här har du ditt liv) and later became one of the leading Swedish directors. His greatest successes were Emigranti (Utvandrarna, 1971) and
The New Land (Nybyggarna, 1972), which were nominated for Oscars. The success of those two films enabled him to direct several films in the US. Those were Zandy’s Bride (1974) and
Hurricane (1979), but they were not very popular. Between those two American films he made the film
Bang! (1977) in Sweden. In 1982, he made the film
The Flight of the Eagle (Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd), which was again nominated for an Oscar. In 1988, he made the noticed documentary
Sagolandet. In the 1990’s he directed the acclaimed
Il Capitano (1991),
Hamsun (1996) and the documentary
En frusen dröm (1997). In 2001, his film
As White as in Snow (Sĺ vit som en snö, 2001) won three Guldbagge awards (the most important Swedish film award), including those for Best Director and Best Film. Afterwards, he made the documentary
Presence (Närvarande, 2003) and one episode entitled The Yellow Tag for the omnibus
Visions of Europe (2004). He made his drama
Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick in 2008 and it won the
Guldbagge awards for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor. His historical-biograohical drama
Dom över död man (2012) was his first feature film that he made with a digital camera.
Filmography
Sĺ vit som en snö (2001)
En Frusen dröm (documentary) (1997)
Hamsun (1996)
Il Capitano (1991)
Sagolandet (documentary) (1988)
Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd (1982)
Hurricane (1979)
Bang! (1977)
Zandy's Bride (1974)
Gamen (TV film) (1973) (TV)
Nybyggarna (1972)
Utvandrarna (1971)
Ole dole doff (1968)
Här har du ditt liv (1966)
Uppehĺll i Myrlandetu (documentary) (1964)