Mai Zetterling
Biography: 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.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: May 24, 1925
Deathday: March 17, 1994
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Known For
Nu börjar livet
1948-08-16
Nu börjar livet
Overview: A married priest woos a seamstress.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1948-08-16
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The Witches
1990-05-25
The Witches
Overview: A young boy named Luke and his grandmother go on vacation only to discover their hotel is hosting an international witch convention, where the Grand High Witch is unveiling her master plan to turn all children into mice. Will Luke fall victim to the witches' plot before he can stop them?
Genres: Fantasy Family Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1990-05-25
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Ett dockhem
1956-01-01
Ett dockhem
Overview: August Strindberg's feedback to Henrik Ibsen's "Doll's House"--a short story from the collection "Giftas" (Getting married), about female emancipation and obsolete marriages.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1956-01-01
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Minns ni?
1993-10-24
Minns ni?
Overview: A quick overview of Swedish film history, featuring a breathtaking cavalry of scenes from about 170 films.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1993-10-24
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Hidden Agenda
1990-11-21
Hidden Agenda
Overview: In Ireland, American lawyer Ingrid Jessner and her activist partner, Paul Sullivan, struggle to uncover atrocities committed by the British government against the Northern Irish during the "Troubles." But when Sullivan is assassinated in the streets, Jessner teams up with Peter Kerrigan, a British investigator acting against the will of his own government, and struggles to uncover a conspiracy that may even implicate one of Kerrigan's colleagues.
Genres: Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1990-11-21
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Sunshine Follows Rain
1946-12-26
Sunshine Follows Rain
Overview: The Farmer Germund is planning a wedding between his daughter Marit and Mats, the son of a neighboring farm. Everything seems to be going according to plan until Marit meets the fiddler Jon, an illegitimate son who enchants the youth with his violin.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1946-12-26
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Music in Darkness
1948-01-17
Music in Darkness
Overview: Because of an accident at a military drill the recruit Bengt loses his eyesight and becomes blind. He gets to live with relatives in the countryside and meets the young Ingrid. She falls in love with him but Bengt's bitterness also makes him blind to her attentions.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1948-01-17
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Torment
1944-10-02
Torment
Overview: Jan-Erik Widgren meets the lonely Bertha Olsson, a woman struggling with alcoholism. Though Bertha is already linked to Caligula, Jan-Erik's heartless teacher, she begins a relationship with the boy anyway. When Caligula learns that Jan-Erik is having an affair with Bertha, he begins to torture his student psychologically. He reserves his cruelest behavior for Bertha, however, which results in a tragic turn of events.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1944-10-02
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The Traitor
1959-08-07
The Traitor
Overview: In wartime, an English spy must go into neutral territory to murder a fellow-Englishman who has been working for the enemy.
Genres: TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-08-07
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Only Two Can Play
1962-01-19
Only Two Can Play
Overview: John Lewis is bored of his job and his wife. Then Liz, wife of a local councillor, sets her sights on him. But this is risky stuff in a Welsh valleys town - if he and Liz ever manage to consummate their affair, that is.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-01-19
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Frieda
1947-06-19
Frieda
Overview: An RAF pilot who was shot down during WWII returns home to his English village with his new bride. The trouble is that she is the German lady who helped him escape.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-06-19
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Knock on Wood
1954-04-06
Knock on Wood
Overview: Ventriloquist Jerry Morgan has failed with another love affair. The reason: when the relationship reaches the point when it is time to discuss marriage, his two dolls become mean and jealous. Morgan's dollmaker Papinek is a member of a spy ring who has stolen the secret plans for the top-secret Lafayette airplane. Since Morgan is leaving for Zurich the same night, he decides to hide the secret plan in the heads of the dolls.
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1954-04-06
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Faces in the Dark
1960-11-22
Faces in the Dark
Overview: A businessman loses his sight in an explosion on the day his wife planned to leave him for another man.
Genres: Thriller Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-11-22
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Quartet
1948-10-26
Quartet
Overview: Somerset Maugham introduces four of his tales in this anthology film: "The Facts of Life," "The Alien Corn," "The Kite," and "The Colonel's Lady."
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-10-26
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Abandon Ship
1957-03-12
Abandon Ship
Overview: After a massive luxury liner sinks into the ocean, the ship's officer must command a rickety lifeboat, built for only nine, that is stuffed with over twenty desperate and injured passengers. As a hurricane approaches and the many wounded passengers struggle for life, difficult decisions must be made about who will remain on the boat and who must be cast to the sea in order to give others the chance to survive.
Genres: Drama Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-03-12
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The Master Builder
1958-02-23
The Master Builder
Overview: Halvard Solness is a middle-aged architect whose ruthlessness in his business makes him a hardened individual. Affected by his ambitions are his wife and his colleagues, until a young woman shows up asking for a promised kingdom.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-02-23
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The Man Who Finally Died
1963-12-01
The Man Who Finally Died
Overview: Joe Newman, a naturalised Briton, is telephoned by his German father, whom he believed long dead, at the same time as a funeral is taking place in Bavaria - with his father's name on the coffin. His investigation in Bavaria reveals startling facts and the obstruction he meets makes him suspect foul play.
Genres: Thriller Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-12-01
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Offbeat
1961-01-01
Offbeat
Overview: When Scotland Yard finds themselves up against a brick wall in tracking down a vicious gang of thieves and bank robbers, they call in Layton, a loner from MI5 to work his way into the gang and help bring them down.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-01-01
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A Prize of Gold
1955-10-14
A Prize of Gold
Overview: A U.S. sergeant, a British sergeant and a British pilot hijack gold for a German refugee's war orphans.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-10-14
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Blackmailed
1951-01-30
Blackmailed
Overview: A blackmailer is murdered, and those who witnessed the scene agree to keep quiet; the complication is that the scene is also witnessed by a young artist, a victim of blackmail as well. (BFI Website)
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-01-30
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Desperate Moment
1953-03-17
Desperate Moment
Overview: Story of a Dutchman's flight across post-war Germany trying to locate the man who alone can clear him of a false murder charge. (BFI Website)
Genres: Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-03-17
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Sellers' Best
1992-02-01
Sellers' Best
Overview: One of the all-time greatest comedians, Peter Sellers’ mimicry, timing, instinct and ability to decimate an audience with laughter made him absolutely unforgettable. Combining comedy and acting like no one before, or since, Sellers starred in legendary cult films such as Dr Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and The Return of the Pink Panther. Sellers’ Best explores not only his comedic talent but goes beneath to examine the man himself and features interviews with those who knew him best, such as Spike Milligan, Beryl Reid and John Sessions
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1992-02-01
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Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer
2022-02-25
Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer
Overview: A journey through Swedish queer film history.
Genres: Documentary History
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 2022-02-25
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Piccadilly Third Stop
1960-09-05
Piccadilly Third Stop
Overview: A playboy tries to recruit a gang, who include an American who needs cash to satisfy his wife's expensive tastes, and an old time expert cracksman, to rob a foreign embassy's safe, but trouble starts when the plan begins to go wrong.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-09-05
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Jag dräpte
1943-10-26
Jag dräpte
Overview: "I Slew" - Hospital drama of a doctor who thinks that he killed a patient on the operating table.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1943-10-26
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Naughty Arlette
1949-11-29
Naughty Arlette
Overview: Arlette is a malicious schoolgirl who uses her feminine charms to attract, and then destroy, every man gullible enough to respond to her flirtations. She sets her cap for the art professor and very nearly does him in... but his loving wife and daughter help the deluded man escape the seductive mantrap.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-11-29
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Visions of Eight
1973-10-06
Visions of Eight
Overview: Eight acclaimed filmmakers bring their unique and differing perspectives to the 1972 Summer Olympic Games held in Munich. The segments include Lelouch's take on Olympic losers and their struggle to remain dignified even in the face of bitter disappointment and defeat; Zetterling's dramatic exploration of the world of weightlifting; and Pfleghar's piece on young Russian gymnast Ludmilla Tourischev's majestic performance on the uneven bars.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-10-06
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The Main Attraction
1962-11-01
The Main Attraction
Overview: An affable drifter on the lam for a murder he didn't commit hides out in a circus.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-11-01
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The Lost People
1949-08-22
The Lost People
Overview: Set in a German theatre after the Second World War, two British soldiers are holding a disparate and hostile band of refugees in this theatre, prior to returning them to their homelands. The soldiers have difficulty dealing with the rivalries between Serb and Croat, resistance fighter and collaborator, Pole and Russian, etc. The threat of plague briefly unites them, but eventually even this wears off and the refugees unite in their hostility to the British.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-08-22
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Hell Is Sold Out
1951-06-01
Hell Is Sold Out
Overview: A supposedly dead writer suddenly turns up to confront the young woman who is using his penname.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-06-01
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The Ringer
1952-11-24
The Ringer
Overview: An underhand solicitor receives threatening notes, and the police are called in to protect him.
Genres: Mystery Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-11-24
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Portrait from Life
1948-12-01
Portrait from Life
Overview: A British army officer becomes fascinated by the portrait of a young woman. He travels to Germany to find her, only to discover that she is suffering from amnesia.
Genres: Drama Mystery Thriller Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-12-01
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Jet Storm
1959-09-16
Jet Storm
Overview: Crisis in the air: A passenger aboard a commercial airplane flying from London to New York threatens to detonate a bomb over the Atlantic.
Genres: Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-09-16
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Dance Little Lady
1954-07-13
Dance Little Lady
Overview: When a ballerina's career is ended after she's injured in a traffic accident, her husband decides to try and turn their young daughter into a ballet star. Drama.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1954-07-13
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Prince Gustaf
1944-11-29
Prince Gustaf
Overview: In the middle of the 1800s Swedish prince Gustaf meets the actress Anna Maria Wastenius and falls in love with her, but it is an impossible love story due to the rules of society.
Genres: Drama History Romance
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1944-11-29
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Tall Headlines
1952-04-15
Tall Headlines
Overview: A family is torn apart when their eldest son is hanged for the murder of a young girl.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-04-15
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Iris and the Lieutenant
1946-12-16
Iris and the Lieutenant
Overview: Robert, an upper-class officer, meets and falls in love with Iris, a house maid. His family will do anything to stop her from marrying him.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1946-12-16
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The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'
1990-05-01
The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'
Overview: Documentary looking at the making-of and real-life stories behind the award-winning conspiracy thriller starring Oscar-winner Frances McDormand and Brian Cox
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1990-05-01
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Maybe I Really Am a Sorceress
1989-12-31
Maybe I Really Am a Sorceress
Overview: An intimate portrait of director Mai Zetterling that includes interviews with Zetterling, David Hughes (Zetterling’s ex-husband and the cowriter of LOVING COUPLES, NIGHT GAMES, and THE GIRLS), and actors Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, and Bibi Andersson.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1989-12-31
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Playing on the Rainbow
1958-08-25
Playing on the Rainbow
Overview: The school counselor Vanja believe neither in love, marriage or a woman's subservient role to the man. One day she meets the student Björn. Their romance is full of problems. Along comes a man from Vanjas past.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1958-08-25
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Lianbron
1965-01-01
Lianbron
Overview: A Swedish scientist couple comes to a small African village to fight malaria.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-01-01
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The Truth About Women
1957-10-01
The Truth About Women
Overview: A man recalls his relationships with the women he loved as he tries to help another man try to understand them as well.
Genres: Comedy Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-10-01
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The Bad Lord Byron
1949-04-18
The Bad Lord Byron
Overview: Injured and on his deathbed in Greece, Lord Byron imagines a celestial trial with witnesses to determine the worth of his character.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-04-18
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We Have Many Names
1976-03-19
We Have Many Names
Overview: A sacrificial passive woman spends her life breeding happiness into her family. What happens when her world of security cracks, shatters completely and her identity dissolves?
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1976-03-19
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Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies
1961-01-03
Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies
Overview: Every year in May several thousand 'Lords of Little Egypt' meet for festivities in the Camargue. Mai Zetterling stays with the gypsies and reports on how they live their lives.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-01-03
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The Bay of St. Michel
1963-03-01
The Bay of St. Michel
Overview: A trio of World War 2 vets band together to search for a lost Nazi fortune.
Genres: Drama Adventure War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-03-01
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Morfars resa
1993-01-29
Morfars resa
Overview: Film by Staffan Lamm.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1993-01-29
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Lasse-Maja
1941-11-28
Lasse-Maja
Overview: About the Swedish trickster and thief Lars "Lasse-Maja" Molin. He often disguised himself and lived as a woman in 1800s. He takes place as a kitchen boy for a bailiff and manages to prevent him from taking over the cottage where his beloved lives. His true identity will, however, be disclosed and he is forced to become an outlaw.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1941-11-28
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My Heart Is Red
1977-03-23
My Heart Is Red
Overview: A poll for an advertising agency during a working day resulting in a series of meetings with women and men from different social strata, each one of them with a different problem.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1977-03-23
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Stulet nyår
1978-02-27
Stulet nyår
Overview: A story about Gerda, maid and unmarried. And a New Year's Eve in her life.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1978-02-27
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Regissören: en film om Mai Zetterling
2015-05-22
Regissören: en film om Mai Zetterling
Overview: A celebrated movie star, Mai Zetterling stepped behind the camera in the early 1960's as one of the few female directors in the world. Her works were immediately celebrated worldwide but were later marginalized and forgotten. Always controversial, she stepped on some male toes while telling stories of marital oppression and human liberation. How come we know so little about one of Sweden's most innovative directors? And is what we know true?
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 2015-05-22
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Meeting with Mai
1996-01-01
Meeting with Mai
Overview: Mai Zetterling is interviewed in the summer of 1984 in her house in southern France. Seventeen years have passed since the Girls were made in Sweden and were adversely affected by the criticism. Zetterling discusses why she left Sweden and resides at crucial times in her life; The drama period, to be celebrated actress and then to move to pave his way in the male-dominated director's profession. A guiding star in Zetterling's life has been to constantly expand its boundaries.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: sv
Release Date: 1996-01-01
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Calling the Shots
1988-09-08
Calling the Shots
Overview: Documentary about women in the film industry. Numerous notable actresses and female directors share their thoughts.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1988-09-08
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Mai Zetterling's Stockholm
1978-01-01
Mai Zetterling's Stockholm
Overview: Mai Zetterling explores Swedish cultural canon in a Canadian TV-production called “Cities”. Zetterling herself play all the prominent roles.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1978-01-01
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