10 Directors Who Took Insane Breaks Between Movies

Roy Andersson is a Swedish film director who received critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his debut film, A Swedish Love Story in 1971. He followed this with 1975's Giliap, which failed to garner much love from either critics or fans, and he wouldn't return to direct a film for almost 30 years as a result.

When he received negative critique on his film, Andersson decided to leave feature-filmmaking to other people. He spent the next 26 years directing humorous commercials to put food on the table, and this kept him employed for some time. He also launched his own production company in 1981.

That company released several shorts, which were highly regarded by critics. The success of that work may have pushed him back into the directing chair because in 1996, he began working on his third film, Songs from the Second Floor, which ultimately found release in 2000.

That 26-year-gap in directing is the longest on record, but fortunately, Andersson found renewed success in his third film. Since then, he's continued releasing feature films, which have garnered positive reviews including You, the Living (2007) and 2014's A Pigeon San on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.