Arne Sucksdorff; Made Documentaries

Arne Sucksdorff, 84, a cinematographer, writer, director and actor in documentaries who became the first Swedish filmmaker to win an Academy Award, died Friday in Stockholm of pneumonia.

He received the Oscar in 1949 for “Symphony of a City,” a short subject made the previous year about his native Stockholm.

Educated in art and natural history, Sucksdorff inadvertently found his career when he took a postgraduate tour of Italy, taking photographs. After he won a prize for a collection of those photos, he bought a motion picture camera and toured his own country, recording Sweden’s natural life in a series of lyrical short films.

Considered “the father of Swedish documentaries,” Sucksdorff later ranged the world, filming in India and in Brazil, where he lived for several decades.

Sucksdorff earned a British equivalent of the Academy Award and a Cannes Film Festival prize in 1954 for “The Great Adventure.” Known for scripting, filming and editing his work, he also appeared in that docudrama as the father of two Swedish farm boys who rescue an otter and try to keep it as a pet.

Among his films over the years were “The Flute and the Arrow,” “The Boy in a Tree” and “Cry of the Penguins.” Several of Sucksdorff’s works have been shown in Los Angeles.

In 1997, Sucksdorff received a lifetime achievement award from Sweden’s 20th Gothenburg International Film Festival.