Mai Zetterling
Born
May 24, 1925
Died
March 17, 1994 (68 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Västerås, Västmanlands län, Sweden
Mai Elisabeth Zetterling ( May 24, 1925 – March 17, 1994) was a Swedish actress and film director.
She began directing in the early 1960s, starting with political documentaries and a short film called The War Game (1962), which was nominated for a BAFTA award, and won a Silver Lion at Venice. Her first feature film Älskande par (1964, "Loving Couples"), based on the novels of Agnes von Krusenstjerna, was banned at the Cannes Film Festival for its sexual explicitness and nudity. Kenneth Tynan of The Observer later called it "one of the most ambitious debuts since Citizen Kane." It was not the only film she made that would stir up controversy for its frank sexuality (early pioneer on voyeurism).
When critics reviewing her debut feature said that "Mai Zetterling directs like a man," she began to explore feminist themes more explicitly in her work. The Girls, which had an all-star Swedish cast including Bibi Andersson and Harriet Andersson, discussed women's liberation (or lack thereof) in a society controlled by men, as the protagonists compare their lives to characters in the play Lysistrata, and find that things have not progressed very much for women since ancient times.
Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer
Self (archive footage)
2022
Regissören: en film om Mai Zetterling
Self (archival footage)
2015
Meeting with Mai
1996
Minns ni?
(archive footage)
1993
Morfars resa
Elin Fromm
1993
Sellers' Best
Self
1992
Hidden Agenda
Moa
1990
The Witches
Helga Eveshim
1990
The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'
Self
1990
Maybe I Really Am a Sorceress
Self
1989
Calling the Shots
Self
1988
Stulet nyår
Gerda
1978
Svenska noveller
Gerda · (1 episode)
1978
Mai Zetterling's Stockholm
1978
My Heart Is Red
Nietzsche
1977
We Have Many Names
Lena
1976
Visions of Eight
Narrator
1973
Lianbron
1965
The Man Who Finally Died
Lisa von Deutsch
1963
The Bay of St. Michel
1963
The Main Attraction
Gina
1962
Only Two Can Play
Liz
1962
Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies
1961
Offbeat
Ruth Lombard
1961
Faces in the Dark
Christiane Hammond
1960
Piccadilly Third Stop
Christine Preedy
1960
The Third Man
(2 episodes)
1959
Jet Storm
Carol Tilley
1959
Interpol Calling
Carol · (1 episode)
1959
The Traitor
Frau Caypor
1959
Playing on the Rainbow
1958
The Master Builder
Hilda Wangel
1958
The Truth About Women
Julie Eaton
1957
Abandon Ship
Nurse Julie White
1957
Ett dockhem
Gurli Pall
1956
A Prize of Gold
Maria
1955
Dance Little Lady
Nina Gordon
1954
Knock on Wood
Ilse Nordstrom
1954
Desperate Moment
Anna DeBurg
1953
The Ringer
Lisa
1952
Tall Headlines
Doris Rickardson
1952
Hell Is Sold Out
Valerie Martin
1951
Blackmailed
Mrs. Carol Edwards
1951
The Romantic Age
Arlette Tessereau
1949
The Lost People
Lily
1949
The Bad Lord Byron
Teresa Guiccioli
1949
Portrait from Life
Lidia
1948
Studio One
Gabrielle · (1 episode)
1948
Quartet
Jeanne (segment "The Facts of Life")
1948
Nu börjar livet
Vera Ullman
1948
Music in Darkness
Ingrid Olofsson
1948
Frieda
Frieda
1947
Sunshine Follows Rain
Marit Germundsdotter
1946
Iris and the Lieutenant
Iris Mattson
1946
Prince Gustaf
Anna Maria Wastenius
1944
Torment
Bertha Olsson
1944
Jag dräpte
Miss Peters
1943
Lasse-Maja
Fanny
1941