Mai Zetterling: A Rebel by Choice

Defiant, uncompromising, angry, provocative, cosmopolitan – the work of Mai Zetterling (1925-1994) remains one of the boldest and most distinctive voices in European cinema. When, at just 17, she began her career as a rising star at Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theatre – Sweden’s most prestigious stage – no one expected her to soon walk away from acting. But Zetterling was too curious, too hungry for adventure – as she often said herself – and above all, too independent to settle for life as Sweden’s “sex symbol”. Local fame, numerous stage and screen roles (including collaborations with Ingmar Bergman and Alf Sjöberg), were never enough to contain her ambitions. She soon took her career abroad, working in both the UK and Hollywood.

Mai Zetterling’s cinema became a space of radical freedom – a place where she could express herself and her vision of the world, without fear of speaking too loudly or saying too much. That kind of fearless honesty remains a rare treasure to this day.

This retrospective is curated by Małgorzata Sadowska.