Mai Zetterling: A Rebel by Choice

When she began her career at just 17 as a rising star of Stockholm’s prestigious Royal Dramatic Theatre, few could have predicted that she would soon abandon acting. But Zetterling was too curious about the world, too hungry for adventure – as she herself would later say – and, above all, too independent to settle for the role of Sweden’s “sex symbol.” Despite achieving local fame and securing major stage and film roles (including collaborations with Ingmar Bergman and Alf Sjöberg), she refused to be confined by expectations. Instead, she sought new challenges beyond Sweden, working in Britain and Hollywood. By the late 1950s, however, she turned to directing, honing her craft by making documentaries for the BBC.

Her short fiction debut, The War Game (1963), won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, while her feature debut, Loving Couples (1964), premiered in Cannes. Based on a novel by Agnes von Krusenstjerna, the film not only defined Zetterling’s key artistic concerns – depicting women’s lives within patriarchal structures – but also revealed her distinctive, anarchic cinematic style. It also foreshadowed the challenges she would face with film festivals and critics, who were unsettled by her honesty and courage. She never hesitated to challenge bourgeois conventions or explore taboo subjects such as sexuality, violence, and female rage. “They said I directed like a man,” she recalled years later.

Despite her undeniable talent, only six of her films made it to the big screen. Throughout her career – cut short by cancer – she effortlessly moved between fiction cinema, documentary, television, advertising, acting, children’s programming, and writing. She also navigated multiple national film industries, defying the idea of “national cinema.” Her uncompromising approach, cosmopolitan outlook, unconventional life, and the fact that she directed in an era particularly hostile to women filmmakers (her most active period was the 1960s and 1970s) meant that she never received the recognition she deserved during her lifetime. Only today, a century after her birth, is she finally being acknowledged as a visionary.

Zetterling was undeniably ahead of her time – unafraid to provoke, to reveal hidden aspects of women’s experiences, and to dismantle social hierarchies and conservative hypocrisy. She fearlessly tackled themes of sexuality and its many taboos, bringing to the screen depictions of homosexual desire, rape, miscarriage, and abortion. She exposed the so called sanctity of marriage, protested the rigid division of gender roles, and – legend has it – even had her female protagonists throw tomatoes at politicians, to the great applause of women in the audience. Her fight to bring authentic portrayals of women’s emotions and experiences to the screen led to controversy, financial setbacks, and harsh criticism from the male-dominated press of the time. And yet, some of the most acclaimed actresses of her era wanted to work with her – Zetterling directed performances by Harriet Andersson, Gunnel Lindblom, and Bibi Andersson.

Films such as Night Games (1966), Dr. Glas (1968), The Girls (1968), Scrubbers (1982), and Amorosa (1986) – in which she revisited the life of writer and provocateur Agnes von Krusenstjerna – remain sharp, relevant, and fiercely defiant. Passionately crafted, masterfully directed, bold in their formal experimentation, and unafraid to break with classical narrative structures, they stand as enduring testaments to her artistic vision. But more than anything, Mai Zetterling’s cinema was a space of total creative freedom – a place where she could tell stories without fear of being too loud, too direct, or too much. That kind of artistic bravery remains rare even today.

Małgorzata Sadowska

The Mai Zetterling: A Rebel by Choice retrospective will feature the following films:

Mai Zetterling as Director:

• The War Game (Leka krig), dir. Mai Zetterling, Sweden, 1962 (short film)
• Loving Couples (Älskande par), dir. Mai Zetterling, Sweden, 1964
• Night Games (Nattlek), dir. Mai Zetterling, Sweden, 1966
• The Girls (Flickorna), dir. Mai Zetterling, Sweden, 1968
• Of Seals and Men, dir. Mai Zetterling, Sweden, 1981 (short film)
• Amorosa, dir. Mai Zetterling, Sweden, 1986

Mai Zetterling as Actress:

• Torment (Hets), dir. Alf Sjöberg, Sweden, 1944
• Music in Darkness (Musik i mörker), dir. Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1948

Documentaries about Mai Zetterling:

• Lines from the Heart (I rollerna tre), dir. Christina Olofsson, Sweden, 1996 (short film)
• Meeting Mai (Möte med Mai), dir. Jannike Åhlund, Solveig Nordlund, Sweden, 1996

The section is curated by Małgorzata Sadowska.