Bergman found acclaim from the 1950s onwards

The writer and director, who will be 85 next month, was given the Film Preservation Award by a Brussels-based group, the International Federation of Film Archives.

"Now, when I have received this prize, I feel that even I belong to this passionate union," Bergman said after receiving the award in Stockholm.

Martin Scorsese and Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira are previous recipients of the prize.

Bergman made about 60 films, including the Oscar-winning Fanny and Alexander, before retiring from the industry.

He first came to public attention with 1955's Smiles of A Summer Night, a romantic comedy which inspired Stephen Sondheim's musical A Little Night Music.

Two years later, The Seventh Seal, a tale of the mediaeval plague years, impressed critics and audiences.

Founded in 1938, the International Federation of Film Archives has 120 members in 65 countries. It aims to collect and restore ageing colour films.