The Girls

One of the most celebrated films by Mai Zetterling who self-trained as a director at the height of her career as a transatlantic movie star.

Taking leave of their families, three actors embark on a national tour of Aristophanes' Lysistrata. The play – a Greek comedy about women taking matters into their own hands to end a war – is received as a nice night out at the theatre. However, when the actors realise that the play might not be a comedy after all, the battle between genders spills offstage, and they are each forced to combat oppressive forces in their own personal lives.

Mid-way through her already successful career as an actor in Sweden, London and Hollywood, Mai Zetterling pursued a career path as a director – a career that might not have been available to her at the time through more traditional avenues. In the early sixties, she set herself a challenge to self-train as a director, and throughout the decade she wrote and directed films at a cracking pace.

Today The Girls is one of Mai Zetterling's most celebrated works.