Acting · Västerås, Västmanlands län, Sweden · Born May 24, 1925
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.
MoviePrejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer
2022
as Self (archive footage)
MovieRegissören: En film om Mai Zetterling
2015
as Self (archival footage)
MovieMeeting with Mai
1996
MovieMinns ni?
1993
as (archive footage)
MovieMorfars resa
1993
as Elin Fromm
MovieSellers' Best
1992
as Self
MovieHidden Agenda
1990
as Moa
MovieThe Witches
1990
as Helga Eveshim
MovieThe Making of 'Hidden Agenda'
1990
as Self
MovieMaybe I Really Am a Sorceress
1989
as Self
MovieCalling the Shots
1988
as Self
Stulet nyår
1978
as Gerda
TVSvenska noveller
1978
as Gerda
MovieMai Zetterling's Stockholm
1978
MovieMy Heart Is Red
1977
as Nietzsche
MovieWe Have Many Names
1976
as Lena
MovieVisions of Eight
1973
as Narrator
Film '72
1971
as Self
TVOne Pair of Eyes
1967
MovieLianbron
1965
MovieThe Man Who Finally Died
1963
as Lisa von Deutsch
MovieThe Bay of St. Michel
1963
MovieThe Main Attraction
1962
as Gina
MovieOnly Two Can Play
1962
as Liz
Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies
1961
MovieOffbeat
1961
as Ruth Lombard
MovieFaces in the Dark
1960
as Christiane Hammond
TVDanger Man
1960
as Nadia
MoviePiccadilly Third Stop
1960
as Christine Preedy
TVThe Third Man
1959
MovieJet Storm
1959
as Carol Tilley
TVInterpol Calling
1959
as Carol
The Traitor
1959
as Frau Caypor
MoviePlaying on the Rainbow
1958
MovieThe Master Builder
1958
as Hilda Wangel
MovieThe Truth About Women
1957
as Julie Eaton
MovieSeven Waves Away
1957
as Nurse Julie White
TVArmchair Theatre
1956
as Miss Julie
MovieEtt dockhem
1956
as Gurli Pall
MovieA Prize of Gold
1955
as Maria
MovieDance Little Lady
1954
as Nina Gordon
MovieKnock on Wood
1954
as Ilse Nordstrom
MovieDesperate Moment
1953
as Anna DeBurg
MovieThe Ringer
1952
as Lisa
MovieTall Headlines
1952
as Doris Rickardson
MovieHell Is Sold Out
1951
as Valerie Martin
MovieBlackmailed
1951
as Mrs. Carol Edwards
MovieThe Romantic Age
1949
as Arlette Tessereau
MovieThe Lost People
1949
as Lily
The Bad Lord Byron
1949
as Teresa Guiccioli
MoviePortrait from Life
1948
as Lidia
TVStudio One
1948
as Gabrielle
MovieQuartet
1948
as Jeanne (segment "The Facts of Life")
Life Starts Now
1948
as Vera Ullman
MovieMusic in Darkness
1948
as Ingrid Olofsson
MovieFrieda
1947
as Frieda
MovieSunshine Follows Rain
1946
as Marit Germundsdotter
MovieIris and the Lieutenant
1946
as Iris Mattson
MoviePrince Gustaf
1944
as Anna Maria Wastenius
MovieTorment
1944
as Bertha Olsson
MovieJag dräpte
1943
as Miss Peters
MovieLasse-Maja
1941
as Fanny
The Polite Invasion
