Mai Zetterling

Born: 1925-05-24

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.


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The Witches

as Helga Eveshim
Released: 1990-05-25

A young boy named Luke and his grandmother go on vacation only to discover their hotel is...

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Knock on Wood

as Ilse Nordstrom
Released: 1954-04-06

Ventriloquist Jerry Morgan has failed with another love affair. The reason: when the...

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Hidden Agenda

as Moa
Released: 1990-11-21

In Ireland, American lawyer Ingrid Jessner and her activist partner, Paul Sullivan, struggle to...

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Abandon Ship

as Nurse Julie White
Released: 1957-03-12

After a massive luxury liner sinks into the ocean, the ship's officer must command a rickety...

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A Prize of Gold

as Maria
Released: 1955-10-14

A U.S. sergeant, a British sergeant and a British pilot hijack gold for a German refugee's war...

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Portrait from Life

as Lidia
Released: 1948-12-01

A British army officer becomes fascinated by the portrait of a young woman. He travels to...

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Visions of Eight

as Narrator
Released: 1973-10-06

Eight acclaimed filmmakers bring their unique and differing perspectives to the 1972 Summer...

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Music in Darkness

as Ingrid Olofsson
Released: 1948-01-17

Because of an accident at a military drill the recruit Bengt loses his eyesight and becomes...

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The Truth About Women

as Julie Eaton
Released: 1957-10-01

Baffled and at a loss to understand the mentality of Diana, his wife, Anthony makes a frantic...

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Jet Storm

as Carol Tilley
Released: 1959-09-16

Crisis in the air: A passenger aboard a commercial airplane flying from London to New York...

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Minns ni?

as uncredited
Released: 1993-10-24

A quick overview of Swedish film history, featuring a breathtaking cavalry of scenes from about...

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Quartet

as Jeanne
Released: 1948-10-26

Somerset Maugham introduces four of his tales in this anthology film: "The Facts of Life," "The...

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Only Two Can Play

as Liz
Released: 1962-01-19

John Lewis is bored of his job and his wife. Then Liz, wife of a local councillor, sets her...

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Piccadilly Third Stop

as Christine Preedy
Released: 1960-09-05

A playboy tries to recruit a gang, who include an American who needs cash to satisfy his wife's...

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Offbeat

as Ruth Lombard
Released: 1961-01-01

When Scotland Yard finds themselves up against a brick wall in tracking down a vicious gang of...

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Torment

as Bertha Olsson
Released: 1944-10-02

Jan-Erik Widgren meets the lonely Bertha Olsson, a woman struggling with alcoholism. Though...

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Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2022-02-25

A journey through Swedish queer film history.

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The Ringer

as Lisa
Released: 1952-11-24

An underhand solicitor receives threatening notes, and the police are called in to protect him.

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The Man Who Finally Died

as Lisa von Deutsch
Released: 1963-12-01

Joe Newman, a naturalised Briton, is telephoned by his German father, whom he believed long...

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Frieda

as Frieda
Released: 1947-06-19

A young German girl marries an Englishman and moves into his family's household during the last...

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Faces in the Dark

as Christiane Hammond
Released: 1960-11-22

A businessman loses his sight in an explosion on the day his wife planned to leave him for...

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Blackmailed

as Mrs. Carol Edwards
Released: 1951-01-30

A blackmailer is murdered, and those who witnessed the scene agree to keep quiet; the...

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Naughty Arlette

as Arlette Tessereau
Released: 1949-11-29

Arlette is a malicious schoolgirl who uses her feminine charms to attract, and then destroy,...

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Iris and the Lieutenant

as Iris Mattson
Released: 1946-12-16

Robert, an upper-class officer, meets and falls in love with Iris, a house maid. His family will...

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Lasse-Maja

as Fanny
Released: 1941-11-28

About the Swedish trickster and thief Lars "Lasse-Maja" Molin. He often disguised himself and...

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The Bad Lord Byron

as Teresa Guiccioli
Released: 1949-04-18

Injured and on his deathbed in Greece, Lord Byron imagines a celestial trial with witnesses to...

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The Lost People

as Lily
Released: 1949-08-22

Set in a German theatre after the Second World War, two British soldiers are holding a disparate...

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Sunshine Follows Rain

as Marit Germundsdotter
Released: 1946-12-26

The Farmer Germund is planning a wedding between his daughter Marit and Mats, the son of a...

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Calling the Shots

as Self
Released: 1988-09-08

Documentary about women in the film industry. Numerous notable actresses and female directors...

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Maybe I Really Am a Sorceress

as Self
Released: 1989-12-31

An intimate portrait of director Mai Zetterling that includes interviews with Zetterling, David...

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Hell Is Sold Out

as Valerie Martin
Released: 1951-06-01

A supposedly dead writer suddenly turns up to confront the young woman who is using his penname.

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The Bay of St. Michel

as uncredited
Released: 1963-03-01

A trio of World War 2 vets band together to search for a lost Nazi fortune.

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Tall Headlines

as Doris Rickardson
Released: 1952-04-15

A family is torn apart when their eldest son is hanged for the murder of a young girl.

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Regissören: en film om Mai Zetterling

as Self (archival footage)
Released: 2015-05-22

A celebrated movie star, Mai Zetterling stepped behind the camera in the early 1960's as one of...

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Dance Little Lady

as Nina Gordon
Released: 1954-07-13

When a ballerina's career is ended after she's injured in a traffic accident, her husband...

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Ett dockhem

as Gurli Pall
Released: 1956-01-01

August Strindberg's feedback to Henrik Ibsen's "Doll's House"--a short story from the collection...

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The Main Attraction

as Gina
Released: 1962-11-01

An affable drifter on the lam for a murder he didn't commit hides out in a circus.

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Prince Gustaf

as Anna Maria Wastenius
Released: 1944-11-29

In the middle of the 1800s Swedish prince Gustaf meets the actress Anna Maria Wastenius and...

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Morfars resa

as Elin Fromm
Released: 1993-01-29

Film by Staffan Lamm.

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Sellers' Best

as Self
Released: 1992-02-01

One of the all-time greatest comedians, Peter Sellers’ mimicry, timing, instinct and ability to...

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My Heart Is Red

as Nietzsche
Released: 1977-03-23

A poll for an advertising agency during a working day resulting in a series of meetings with...

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We Have Many Names

as Lena
Released: 1976-03-19

A sacrificial passive woman spends her life breeding happiness into her family. What happens...

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The Master Builder

as Hilda Wangel
Released: 1958-02-23

Halvard Solness is a middle-aged architect whose ruthlessness in his business makes him a...

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Desperate Moment

as Anna DeBurg
Released: 1953-03-17

Story of a Dutchman's flight across post-war Germany trying to locate the man who alone can...

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The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'

as Self
Released: 1990-05-01

Documentary looking at the making-of and real-life stories behind the award-winning conspiracy...

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Nu börjar livet

as Vera Ullman
Released: 1948-08-16

A married priest woos a seamstress.

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Stockholm

as uncredited
Released: 1978-01-01

Swedish actress Mai Zetterling offers a look at Stockholm.

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Jag dräpte

as Miss Peters
Released: 1943-10-26

"I Slew" - Hospital drama of a doctor who thinks that he killed a patient on the operating table.

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Lianbron

as uncredited
Released: 1965-01-01

A Swedish scientist couple comes to a small African village to fight malaria.

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Meeting with Mai

as uncredited
Released: 1996-01-01

Mai Zetterling is interviewed in the summer of 1984 in her house in southern France. Seventeen...

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Playing on the Rainbow

as uncredited
Released: 1958-08-25

The school counselor Vanja believe neither in love, marriage or a woman's subservient role to...

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The Third Man

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-10-02

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Studio One

as Gabrielle
First aired: 1948-11-07

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher...

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Interpol Calling

as Carol
First aired: 1959-09-13

The adventures of Interpol policemen Duval and Mornay as they fought against international...

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