Jörn Donner

Jörn Johan Donner (5 February 1933 – 30 January 2020) was a Finnish writer, film director, actor, producer, politician and founder of Finnish Film Archive. He produced Ingmar Bergman's film Fanny and Alexander, which won four Academy Awards in 1984. Donner also served in the Finnish parliament and the European Parliament, making significant contributions to both cinema and politics.

Biography
Born into the Finland-Swedish Donner family of German descent, Jörn Donner was the son of the linguist Kai Donner and the grandson of linguist and politician Otto Donner.

He lived and worked for long periods in Sweden, and served as director of the Swedish Film Institute. In 1979, he was a member of the jury at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival. Internationally Jörn Donner was best known as the producer of Ingmar Bergman's film Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander, 1982). In 1984 the movie won a total of four Academy Awards including the award for best foreign language film, making him to date the only Finn to receive an Oscar. His novel Far och son (Father and Son) won the Finlandia Prize in 1985.

Donner was associated with several different political parties, such as SDP and RKP, and was at different times a member both of the Finnish parliament and the European Parliament. he was again a member of the Finnish parliament for a short while, after Eva Biaudet resigned to take a position at the OSCE.

Donner suffered from prostate and lung cancers. He died of lung disease at Meilahti hospital in Helsinki on 30 January 2020, six days before his 87th birthday. After his death, an archive of thousands of photographs was discovered at his home, showing that Donner was also a skilled photographer. In 2023, Donner's widow revealed that she had thrown his ashes in the compost after discovering his history of infidelity.

Filmography

 * En söndag i september (A Sunday in September, 1963)
 * Att älska, (To Love, 1964)
 * , (Adventure Starts Here, 1965)
 * Tvärbalk (Rooftree, 1967)
 * Stimulantia (1967)
 * Mustaa valkoisella, (Black on White, 1968)
 *  (1969)
 * Anna (1970)
 * Naisenkuvia, (Portraits of Women, 1970)
 * Perkele! Kuvia Suomesta (1971)
 * Hellyys (1972)
 *  (1973)
 * Near and Far Away (1976)
 *  (1978)
 * Men Can't Be Raped (1978)
 * Bergman File, The (1978)
 *  (1982)
 * Hockeyfeber (1983)
 * Dirty Story (1984)
 * Brev från Sverige/ (1988)
 * Ingmar Bergman: Om liv och arbete (1998)
 * Presidentti (2000)
 * The Border (Raja 1918, 2007)
 * Kuulustelu (2009)
 * Armi elää! (2015)