Mai Zetterling

Mai ZETTERLING (1925-1994, Sweden) was known as a filmmaker and actor who starred in war-era films starting in her teens. Following her debut in Lasse-Maja (1941), she made an impact in the Ingmar Bergman-written film Torment (1944). The international attention she acquired from her Bergman association led her to England, where she debuted in the title role of Frieda (1947), a war drama. Mai turned away from acting in the mid-1960s, facing some controversy when she successfully debuted as a filmmaker. She wed writer David Hughes in 1958, with whom she collaborated on several of her directing efforts, which seemed ahead of their time. Influenced by Bergman, the dark romantic drama Loving Couples (1964) dealt with homosexual themes and featured nudity; Night Games (1966) revolved around sexual decadency and repression; and The Girls (1968) expounded on women’s liberation. Toward the end of her life, Mai made a return to acting and is best remembered at this late stage for her role as Helga, a nurturing and resilient grandmother in the film The Witches (1990), wherein her character was forced to entangle with a particularly virulent ringleader, played by Anjelica Huston, to save her grandson from her coven of hags.

Filmography

(selection) Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies (1961, doc), The War Game (1963, short), Loving Couples (1964), Night Games (1966), Doctor Glas (1968), The Girls (1968), Omnibus (1967, TV series), Visions of Eight (1973), We Have Many Names (1976), The Moon Is a Green Cheese (1977), Scrubbers (1982), Love (1982), Amorosa (1986), Betongmormor (1986), Sunday Pursuit (1990, TV)

More info: Wikipedia, Mai Zetterling