Ulla-Britt Söderlund (August 12, 1943 – July 21, 1985) was a Swedish costume designer, best known to international audiences for her collaborations with directors Jan Troell and Stanley Kubrick. Her film credits include Hunger (1966), The Emigrants (1971), The New Land (1972), and Barry Lyndon (1975), where the latter earned her an Academy Award.
Career Söderlund began her career creating the costumes for various Danish-Swedish screen co-productions. Her first major film credit was in Henning Carlsen's 1966 black-and-white drama Hunger, which was based on Knut Hamsun's 1890 novel of the same name. She again worked with Carlsen the following year, this time on the romantic comedy People Meet and Sweet Music Fills the Heart, which was an adaptation of Jens August Schade's 1944 novel. She then designed costumes for Mai Zetterling's 1968 dramatic adaptations, Doctor Glas and The Girls.
In the following years, Söderlund collaborated with many renowned directors, such as Gabriel Axel, Jan Troell, Stanley Kubrick, and Hans Alfredson, among others. In particular, her meticulous work on Troell's simultaneously filmed period dramas The Emigrants (1971) and The New Land (1972), garnered a great deal of attention and launched her to international prominence. Along with other career prospects, she and Milena Canonero worked together on the authentic 18th-century wardrobes for Kubrick's 1975 epic Barry Lyndon. That ambitious project required a year and a half of preparing the costumes, studying paintings, and reading books to reproduce garments for the screen. Their remarkable efforts received critical and audience admiration, ultimately winning them the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Söderlund was the first Swedish designer ever to win in the category.
In the late 1970s, Söderlund worked on the acclaimed Danish television series Matador. Among her last notable film credits was designing the wardrobe for Alfredson's 1982 drama film, The Simple-Minded Murder.
Filmography Film YearTitleDirectorNotes 1966 Hunger Henning Carlsen with Ada Skolmen 1967 Hagbard and Signe Gabriel Axel People Meet and Sweet Music Fills the Heart Henning Carlsen with Lotte Dandanell 1968 Doctor Glas Mai Zetterling The Girls 1969 Jazz All Around Knud Leif Thomsen with Elva Nordli 1971 The Emigrants Jan Troell Med kærlig hilsen Gabriel Axel with Elva Nordli Bedside Dentist John Hilbard 1972 1001 Danish Delights Sven Methling with Berit Mørkeberg The New Land Jan Troell 1975 Barry Lyndon Stanley Kubrick with Milena Canonero 1977 The Prince and the Pauper Richard Fleischer Söderlund only designed costumes for Raquel Welch The Assignment Mats Arehn 1981 Jeppe på bjerget Kaspar Rostrup with Annelise Siegstad 1982 The Simple-Minded Murderer Hans Alfredson 1983 Among the Cinders Rolf Hädrich
Television YearTitleNotes 1978–1979 Matador 12 episodes
Awards and nominations AwardYearCategoryWorkResult Academy Awards 1976 Best Costume Design Barry Lyndon British Academy Film Awards 1976 Best Costume Design
Illness and death Söderlund died of cancer on 21 July 1985. She was diagnosed with the disease in the spring of that year.https://www.smp.se/lordag/ulla-britt-fran-vaxjo-fick-kla-filmens-stjarnor/ Swedish article on her life and death, and interview with her son from 2016.
See also List of Nordic Academy Award winners and nominees
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