Cast & creator
Mai Zetterling
Best known for Studio One, Film '72, The Hitchhiker
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.
Also known as: Maj Zetterling, Mai Elizabeth Zetterling, مای زترلینگ
85
film credits
13
television credits
64
1941–2022 · acting roles
6.4
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (98)
Showing 98 of 98 credits
Studio One
Gabrielle
1948Film '72
Self
1971
The Hitchhiker
Director
1983
Danger Man
Nadia
1960
The Third Man
1959
Interpol Calling
Carol
1959
Chillers
Director
1990Chillers
Writer
1990
Love at First Sight
Director
1992
The Witches
Helga Eveshim
1990
One Pair of Eyes
1967
Armchair Theatre
Miss Julie
1956Armchair Theatre
Louise Josse
1956
Svenska noveller
Gerda
1978
Seven Waves Away
Nurse Julie White
1957
Hidden Agenda
Moa
1990
A Prize of Gold
Maria
1955
Love
Writer
1982Love
Director
1982
Only Two Can Play
Liz
1962
The Truth About Women
Julie Eaton
1957
Jag dräpte
Miss Peters
1943
Knock on Wood
Ilse Nordstrom
1954
The Man Who Finally Died
Lisa von Deutsch
1963
Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer
Self (archive footage)
2022
Doctor Glas
Director
1968Doctor Glas
Screenplay
1968
Prince Gustaf
Anna Maria Wastenius
1944
The Ringer
Lisa
1952
Hell Is Sold Out
Valerie Martin
1951
Visions of Eight
Narrator
1973Visions of Eight
Director
1973Concrete Grandma
Director
1986
We Have Many Names
Lena
1976We Have Many Names
Director
1976
Night Games
Director
1966Night Games
Writer
1966The Bad Lord Byron
Teresa Guiccioli
1949
The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'
Self
1990
Faces in the Dark
Christiane Hammond
1960
Portrait from Life
Lidia
1948
Music in Darkness
Ingrid Olofsson
1948
Scrubbers
Director
1982Scrubbers
Writer
1982
The Lost People
Lily
1949
Maybe I Really Am a Sorceress
Self
1989
Torment
Bertha Olsson
1944
Jet Storm
Carol Tilley
1959
The Girls
Writer
1968The Girls
Director
1968Stulet nyår
Gerda
1978
Sunshine Follows Rain
Marit Germundsdotter
1946Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies
1961Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies
Director
1961
The Bay of St. Michel
1963
Calling the Shots
Self
1988
Offbeat
Ruth Lombard
1961
Iris and the Lieutenant
Iris Mattson
1946
Sellers' Best
Self
1992
Desperate Moment
Anna DeBurg
1953
My Heart Is Red
Nietzsche
1977
Quartet
Jeanne (segment "The Facts of Life")
1948
The Moon Is a Green Cheese
Director
1977The Moon Is a Green Cheese
Writer
1977
Tall Headlines
Doris Rickardson
1952
The Main Attraction
Gina
1962
Mai Zetterling's Stockholm
1978Mai Zetterling's Stockholm
Director
1978
Piccadilly Third Stop
Christine Preedy
1960
Playing on the Rainbow
1958
Loving Couples
Director
1964Loving Couples
Writer
1964
Sunday Pursuit
Director
1990
Dance Little Lady
Nina Gordon
1954
The Romantic Age
Arlette Tessereau
1949
Frieda
Frieda
1947Of Seals and Men
Director
1981Of Seals and Men
Writer
1981
Minns ni?
(archive footage)
1993
Vincent the Dutchman
Director
1972
Blackmailed
Mrs. Carol Edwards
1951Life Starts Now
Vera Ullman
1948
Meeting with Mai
1996The Traitor
Frau Caypor
1959
Morfars resa
Elin Fromm
1993
Regissören: En film om Mai Zetterling
Self (archival footage)
2015
The War Game
Producer
1963The War Game
Screenplay
1963The War Game
Director
1963
Amorosa
Director
1986Amorosa
Writer
1986Amorosa
Editor
1986
The Master Builder
Hilda Wangel
1958
Lasse-Maja
Fanny
1941
Ett dockhem
Gurli Pall
1956The Polite Invasion
The Polite Invasion
Director
