Series Site
March 1–May 8, 2025
Mai Zetterling (1925–1994), the Swedish-born actor-turned-director, enjoyed an international career. She worked in Stockholm, London, Hollywood, and Denmark, and lived abroad in England and France for many years. She was on record as feeling at times like a Swedish outsider. This series is timed with her centennial year and focuses largely on her Swedish productions. We are delighted to welcome Linda Haverty Rugg, Professor Emerita in the Department of Scandinavian at UC Berkeley; and Anna Stenport, Dean and Professor at the University of Georgia, Athens, who will introduce films in the series.
Zetterling began her professional career at age seventeen. She was launched to stardom with three Swedish films: Alf Sjöberg’s classic Torment (1944), based on a script by Ingmar Bergman; Gustaf Edgren’s Sunshine Follows Rain (1946), one of the top-grossing Swedish films of its day; and Sjöberg’s lovely Iris and the Lieutenant (1946). Zetterling enjoyed success abroad and returned to Sweden to appear in Music in the Dark (1948), the fourth film written and directed by Bergman. Zetterling had her sights set on directing for film. She made the short film The War Game (1963) and then directed an impressive series of feature films—Loving Couples, Night Games, The Girls, and Doktor Glas—all completed in the period 1964–68. These works are distinguished by their psychological treatments, sexual candor, star power (featuring performances by Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Gunnel Lindblom, Ingrid Thulin), and high production values (art direction, location shooting, cinematography).
Other series highlights include We Have Many Names (1976), planned for UNESCO’s International Women’s Year, a project that Zetterling conceived, directed, and starred in; and Amorosa (1986), which allowed Zetterling to return to her interest in the Swedish feminist writer Agnes von Krusenstjerna (Zetterling’s debut feature, Loving Couples, was based on Krusenstjerna’s novels). Amorosa stars Stina Ekblad in a portrait of the controversial writer and her troubled romance with a notorious older man, played by Erland Josephson.
—Susan Oxtoby, Director of Film and Senior Film Curator