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Mai Zetterling

Mai Zetterling

Birthday: 1925-05-24 | Place of Birth: 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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2015
Regissören: en film om Mai Zetterling

as    Self (archival footage)

1993
Morfars resa

as    Elin Fromm

1992
Sellers' Best

as    Self

1990
The Witches

as    Helga Eveshim

1990
Hidden Agenda

as    Moa

1990
1989
1977
My Heart Is Red

as    Nietzsche

1976
We Have Many Names

as    Lena

1973
Visions of Eight

as    Narrator

1967
The Man Who Finally Died

as    Lisa von Deutsch

1964
Faces in the Dark

as    Christiane Hammond

1962
The Main Attraction

as    Gina

1962
Only Two Can Play

as    Liz

1961
Jet Storm

as    Carol Tilley

1961
Offbeat

as    Ruth Lombard

1960
Piccadilly Third Stop

as    Christine Preedy

1959
The Traitor

as    Frau Caypor

1958
The Master Builder

as    Hilda Wangel

1957
The Truth About Women

as    Julie Eaton

1957
Abandon Ship

as    Nurse Julie White

1956
Ett dockhem

as    Gurli Pall

1955
A Prize of Gold

as    Maria

1954
Knock on Wood

as    Ilse Nordstrom

1954
Dance Little Lady

as    Nina Gordon

1953
Desperate Moment

as    Anna DeBurg

1952
The Ringer

as    Lisa