
Mai Zetterling
Born May 24, 1925 · 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.
Notable Appearances
More Movies

A Prize of Gold

Seven Waves Away

Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer

The Man Who Finally Died

The Truth About Women

Jag dräpte

Hell Is Sold Out

The Ringer

Calling the Shots

Visions of Eight

The Lost People

Prince Gustaf

Knock on Wood

Sunshine Follows Rain

Desperate Moment

We Have Many Names

Faces in the Dark

The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'

Tall Headlines

Maybe I Really Am a Sorceress

Torment

Jet Storm

Quartet

Music in Darkness

Portrait from Life

The Bay of St. Michel

The Romantic Age

Minns ni?

Piccadilly Third Stop

Frieda

Playing on the Rainbow

My Heart Is Red

Dance Little Lady

Iris and the Lieutenant

The Main Attraction

Offbeat

Blackmailed

Morfars resa

Mai Zetterling's Stockholm

Sellers' Best

Meeting with Mai

Lasse-Maja

Regissören: En film om Mai Zetterling

Ett dockhem

The Master Builder










