SILVER

Oh Mai! The Films of Mai Zetterling

April 25–July 3

A long-overlooked pioneer of feminist cinema, Sweden-born actor-turned-director Mai Zetterling (1925–1994) got her start on the stage at age 17 following a difficult upbringing in Västerås. She went on to have a three-decade career which traversed not only borders (she worked in Sweden, the UK, Denmark and Hollywood) but also modes, as she moved behind the camera to direct shorts, features, documentaries and episodic television. Her work shattered taboos, mined subversive themes and defied patriarchal norms in its depictions of female agency, unconventional gender roles and sexual freedoms. Marking Zetterling's centenary, this series features several of her early acting roles in Alf Sjöberg's TORMENT (1944), Gustaf Edgren's SUNSHINE FOLLOWS RAIN (1946) and Ingmar Bergman's breakout fourth feature MUSIC IN THE DARK (1948), alongside new restorations of her boundary-pushing directorial work, including her BAFTA-nominated, Golden Lion-winning short THE WAR GAME (1963), her groundbreaking debut feature LOVING COUPLES (1964) — also screening as part of our WorldPride on Screen series — and rarely-screened later works, such as SCRUBBERS (1982) and AMOROSA (1986).

Co-presented by the Embassy of Sweden. Special thanks to the Swedish Film Institute, Janus Films and the British Film Institute.