FACTBOX: Reactions to the death of Ingmar Bergman

(Reuters) - Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, considered by some the greatest of film makers, died on Monday at the age of 89.

Below are some reactions to the news:

BILLE AUGUST, DANISH DIRECTOR WHO WON THE PALME D'OR FOR

BEST FILM AT CANNES IN 1992 WITH "THE BEST INTENTIONS", THE

SCRIPT FOR WHICH WAS WRITTEN BY BERGMAN ABOUT HIS OWN PARENTS:

"It was a real shock to me because he was the last big director left. The three big ones for me were Kurosawa, Fellini and Bergman. The two others had already passed and now Ingmar has also left us. He leaves a big vacuum behind.

"He was wonderful to work with. We worked together on the script (for 'The Best Intentions') so I had the opportunity to sit with him every day for three months. We developed a friendship that meant so much to me. I would call him if I had a big crisis or I had to make a life choice.

"He was such an incredible, unusually bright person. He was the only one I really trusted and felt like I could share my doubts with."

ANDRZEJ WAJDA, OSCAR-WINNING POLISH DIRECTOR, quoted by the Polish news agency PAP:

"Bergman was always an independent person, not distracted by other kinds of activities outside of cinema and theatre. He created great art, and for us -- movie directors -- he gave hope, a belief, that if we wanted to say something about ourselves, the world would notice that.

"He made a great impression on me with his absolute isolation. It seems the man who makes movies ... has to be at the disposal of so many people.

"That is why what he created is immortal. This will remain, this will be an everlasting, great achievement."

ISTVAN SZABO, OSCAR-WINNING HUNGARIAN DIRECTOR, WHO WORKED

WITH BERGMAN AS AN ASSOCIATE AFTER BERGMAN FOUNDED THE EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY. Quoted by the national news agency MTI.

"Ingmar Bergman is one of the greatest directors in the history of film-making. He did a lot for film art, and within that for European film art, not only by his films, but also with his personal commitment and strength ...

"The Bergman films are to viewers like the novels of a great novelist, the poems of a great poet or the works of a great drama writer ... He valued contact with the audience very much and the story which can be told to them, while he did not attribute a great value to stories which can only be understood by snobs and highly qualified aesthetes."