LIV ULLMANN (Norway) Winner of the “Golden Mane” for LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 10th IFF KINENOVA 2025

At the tenth, anniversary edition of “KineNova”, we are delighted to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to one of the most significant actresses of the past, 20th century, the century of film art. It is enough to say about her that she is the “muse” of the great Ingmar Bergman, playing in ten of his, according to many, best films. But Liv Ullmann, of course, is much more than that. She has proven her love for art countless times both on the theater stage and in the director’s chair, where she has enjoyed sitting for the last three decades of her rich career. She is still vital and full of energy, and we are delighted to present her with the highest Lifetime Achievement Award, deservedly counting her among the greats who have received our festival award in recent years.
Liv Ullmann (December 16, 1939, Tokyo, Japan) is a Norwegian actress known for her natural beauty and intelligent, complex performances. Ullmann’s father was a Norwegian engineer whose work demanded extensive travel. As a result, Liv was born in Japan and reared and educated in Norway, Canada, and the United States. During her teenage years, she studied acting in London and Norway and performed in several plays for Oslo’s National Theatre.
Ullmann appeared in small roles in four short films before meeting Ingmar Bergman in 1966. When he cast her in the principal role of his complex psychological drama Persona (1966), they began a long-standing professional and personal relationship. Ullmann’s work with Bergman received widespread acclaim and made the actress an international star. Their collaborations—nearly all of which are regarded as masterpieces by film scholars—included Vargtimmen (1968; Hour of the Wolf); Skammen (1968; Shame); Viskningar och rop (1972; Cries & Whispers); Scener ur ett äktenskap (1973; Scenes from a Marriage), and Höstsonaten (1978; Autumn Sonata). Their other credits included Ansikte mot ansikte (1976; Face to Face), for which Ullmann received an Academy Award nomination, and the TV movie Saraband (2003). Ullmann also garnered an Oscar nod for her performance in the historical drama Utvandrarna (1971; The Emigrants), which was directed by Jan Troell.
Throughout her career, Ullmann worked onstage as well as onscreen. She demonstrated great versatility in works by William Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, George Bernard Shaw, Bertolt Brecht, Eugene O’Neill, and George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Her best-known stage role was that of Nora in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. It was also the only part she ever repeated, performing the role on radio as well as onstage in both Oslo and New York City. She also worked often with the famed theatrical director José Quintero: as Josie in A Moon for the Misbegotten (1976), in the title role of Anna Christie (1977), in the Chekhov comedy The Bear (1978), and in The Human Voice (1979), in which she turned in a riveting 45-minute soliloquy.
Although her later films received little American distribution, Ullmann remained among the world’s most respected actresses. Her credits from the early 21st century included I et speil i en gåte (2008; Through a Glass, Darkly) and Zwei leben (2012; Two Lives). In addition, Ullmann directed the films Sofie (1992); Kristin Lavransdatter (1995); Trolösa (1999; Faithless), for which Bergman wrote the screenplay; and Miss Julie (2014), which she adapted from August Strindberg’s play of the same name.
In 2022 Ullmann received an honorary Academy Award, noted for a “bravery and emotional transparency [that] has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals.”