A scene from The Seventh Seal [Photo provided to China Daily]

The winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film, and more than 10 awards at international film festivals, Bergman is recognized as one of the greatest artists of all time.

Since he received his toy cinematograph Laterna Magica at the age of 10, the Swede has created over 60 films and documentaries, most of which he had directed and written.

"If film had mainly been regarded as a sheer tool for story-telling and visual entertainment before, Bergman endowed film with more depth related to philosophical reflection on life and death, the existence of God and the soul of human beings," said Wang Kaimei.

"In 1973, Bergman made his first film for television - a telecommunication medium he adored that had changed the world," said Wang.

"During the preparation for this exhibition, I wondered how he would admire the technological advancements today, when social media and the internet have become the new mass media norm, if he were still alive. And this is why we have brought the exhibition to Shanghai, a modern cosmopolis that he would have liked," she added.