Mai Zetterling

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Female

Birthday 1925-05-24

Deathday 1994-03-17 (68 years old)

Place of Birth Västerås, Västmanlands län, Sweden

Also Known As Maj Zetterling, Mai Elizabeth Zetterling

Mai Zetterling

Biography

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.

Known For

Actor

2022
Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer

as Self (archive footage)

2015
Regissören: en film om Mai Zetterling

as Self (archival footage)

1993
Minns ni?

as (archive footage)

1993
Morfars resa

as Elin Fromm

1992
1990
1990
The Witches

as Helga Eveshim

1988
1978
Stulet nyår

as Gerda

1978
1977
My Heart Is Red

as Nietzsche

1976
1973
Visions of Eight

as Narrator

1963
The Man Who Finally Died

as Lisa von Deutsch

1961
Offbeat

as Ruth Lombard

1960
Faces in the Dark

as Christiane Hammond

1960
Piccadilly Third Stop

as Christine Preedy

1959
Jet Storm

as Carol Tilley

1959
The Traitor

as Frau Caypor

1959
1958
The Master Builder

as Hilda Wangel

1957
The Truth About Women

as Julie Eaton

1957
Abandon Ship

as Nurse Julie White

1956
Ett dockhem

as Gurli Pall

1955
1954
Dance Little Lady

as Nina Gordon

1954
Knock on Wood

as Ilse Nordstrom

1953
Desperate Moment

as Anna DeBurg

1952
The Ringer

as Lisa

1952
Tall Headlines

as Doris Rickardson

1951
Hell Is Sold Out

as Valerie Martin

1951
Blackmailed

as Mrs. Carol Edwards

1949
Naughty Arlette

as Arlette Tessereau

1949
1949
The Bad Lord Byron

as Teresa Guiccioli

1948
1948
Quartet

as Jeanne

1948
Nu börjar livet

as Vera Ullman

1948
Music in Darkness

as Ingrid Olofsson

1948
Studio One

as Gabrielle

1947
Frieda

as Frieda

1946
Sunshine Follows Rain

as Marit Germundsdotter

1946
Iris and the Lieutenant

as Iris Mattson

1944
Prince Gustaf

as Anna Maria Wastenius

1944
Torment

as Bertha Olsson

1943
Jag dräpte

as Miss Peters

1941
Lasse-Maja

as Fanny

Director

1992
1990
Sunday Pursuit

as Director

1986
Amorosa

as Director

1986
Concrete Grandma

as Director

1983
The Hitchhiker

as Director

1982
Scrubbers

as Director

1982
Love

as Director

1981
Of Seals and Men

as Director

1976
We Have Many Names

as Director

1973
Visions of Eight

as Director

1972
1968
Doctor Glas

as Director

1968
The Girls

as Director

1966
Night Games

as Director

1964
Loving Couples

as Director

1963
The War Game

as Director

Writer

1986
Amorosa

as Writer

1982
Scrubbers

as Writer

1982
Love

as Writer

1981
1968
Doctor Glas

as Screenplay

1968
The Girls

as Writer

1966
Night Games

as Writer

1964
Loving Couples

as Writer

1963
The War Game

as Screenplay

Producer

1963
The War Game

as Producer

Editor

1986
Amorosa

as Editor