
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.
Acting (50 movies)

Nu börjar livet
1948

The Witches
1990

Ett dockhem
1956

Minns ni?
1993

Hidden Agenda
1990

Sunshine Follows Rain
1946

Music in Darkness
1948

Torment
1944

Only Two Can Play
1962

Frieda
1947

Knock on Wood
1954

Faces in the Dark
1960

Quartet
1948

Abandon Ship
1957

The Master Builder
1958

The Man Who Finally Died
1963

Offbeat
1961

A Prize of Gold
1955

Desperate Moment
1953

Blackmailed
1951

Sellers' Best
1992

Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer
2022

Piccadilly Third Stop
1960

Jag dräpte
1943

The Romantic Age
1949

Visions of Eight
1973

The Main Attraction
1962

The Lost People
1949

Hell Is Sold Out
1951

The Ringer
1952

Portrait from Life
1948

Jet Storm
1959

Dance Little Lady
1954

Prince Gustaf
1944

Tall Headlines
1952

Iris and the Lieutenant
1946

The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'
1990

Maybe I Really Am a Sorceress
1989

Playing on the Rainbow
1958

Lianbron
1965

The Truth About Women
1957

We Have Many Names
1976

The Bay of St. Michel
1963

Morfars resa
1993

Lasse-Maja
1941

My Heart Is Red
1977

Regissören: en film om Mai Zetterling
2015

Meeting with Mai
1996

Calling the Shots
1988

Mai Zetterling's Stockholm
1978
Directing (17 movies)

Night Games
1966

Scrubbers
1982

Loving Couples
1964

Doctor Glas
1968

Amorosa
1986

The War Game
1963

Visions of Eight
1973

We Have Many Names
1976
Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies
1961

The Girls
1968

Of Seals and Men
1981

Vincent the Dutchman
1972

Sunday Pursuit
1990

Love
1982

The Moon Is a Green Cheese
1977

Concrete Grandma
1986

Mai Zetterling's Stockholm
1978
| Title | Year | Job | 
|---|---|---|
| The War Game | 1963 | Screenplay | 
| The War Game | 1963 | Producer | 
| Loving Couples | 1964 | Writer | 
| Night Games | 1966 | Writer | 
| Doctor Glas | 1968 | Screenplay | 
| The Girls | 1968 | Writer | 
| The Moon Is a Green Cheese | 1977 | Writer | 
| Of Seals and Men | 1981 | Writer | 
| Love | 1982 | Writer | 
| Scrubbers | 1982 | Writer | 
| Amorosa | 1986 | Writer |