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

Studio One

Danger Man

The Third Man

Interpol Calling

The Witches

One Pair of Eyes

Armchair Theatre

Armchair Theatre

All Movies (55)

• Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer2022 · as Self (archive footage)
• Regissören: En film om Mai Zetterling2015 · as Self (archival footage)
• Meeting with Mai1996
• Minns ni?1993 · as (archive footage)
• Morfars resa1993 · as Elin Fromm
• Sellers' Best1992 · as Self
• Hidden Agenda1990 · as Moa
• The Witches1990 · as Helga Eveshim
• The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'1990 · as Self
• Maybe I Really Am a Sorceress1989 · as Self
• Calling the Shots1988 · as Self
• Stulet nyår1978 · as Gerda
• Mai Zetterling's Stockholm1978
• My Heart Is Red1977 · as Nietzsche
• We Have Many Names1976 · as Lena
• Visions of Eight1973 · as Narrator
• Lianbron1965
• The Man Who Finally Died1963 · as Lisa von Deutsch
• The Bay of St. Michel1963
• The Main Attraction1962 · as Gina
• Only Two Can Play1962 · as Liz
• Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies1961
• Offbeat1961 · as Ruth Lombard
• Faces in the Dark1960 · as Christiane Hammond
• Piccadilly Third Stop1960 · as Christine Preedy
• Jet Storm1959 · as Carol Tilley
• The Traitor1959 · as Frau Caypor
• Playing on the Rainbow1958
• The Master Builder1958 · as Hilda Wangel
• The Truth About Women1957 · as Julie Eaton
• Seven Waves Away1957 · as Nurse Julie White
• Ett dockhem1956 · as Gurli Pall
• A Prize of Gold1955 · as Maria
• Dance Little Lady1954 · as Nina Gordon
• Knock on Wood1954 · as Ilse Nordstrom
• Desperate Moment1953 · as Anna DeBurg
• The Ringer1952 · as Lisa
• Tall Headlines1952 · as Doris Rickardson
• Hell Is Sold Out1951 · as Valerie Martin
• Blackmailed1951 · as Mrs. Carol Edwards
• The Romantic Age1949 · as Arlette Tessereau
• The Lost People1949 · as Lily
• The Bad Lord Byron1949 · as Teresa Guiccioli
• Portrait from Life1948 · as Lidia
• Quartet1948 · as Jeanne (segment "The Facts of Life")
• Life Starts Now1948 · as Vera Ullman
• Music in Darkness1948 · as Ingrid Olofsson
• Frieda1947 · as Frieda
• Sunshine Follows Rain1946 · as Marit Germundsdotter
• Iris and the Lieutenant1946 · as Iris Mattson
• Prince Gustaf1944 · as Anna Maria Wastenius
• Torment1944 · as Bertha Olsson
• Jag dräpte1943 · as Miss Peters
• Lasse-Maja1941 · as Fanny
• The Polite Invasion—

All TV Shows (9)

• Svenska noveller1978 · as Gerda
• Film '721971 · as Self
• One Pair of Eyes1967
• Danger Man1960 · as Nadia
• The Third Man1959
• Interpol Calling1959 · as Carol
• Armchair Theatre1956 · as Miss Julie
• Armchair Theatre1956 · as Louise Josse
• Studio One1948 · as Gabrielle