Maj Wechselmann (born 1 April 1942, in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

), is a Danish-Swedish documentary director and filmmaker, known for expressing radical

social criticism Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The orig ...

in her documentaries. Wechselmann was born in Copenhagen, the daughter of Bruno Wechselmann and Reina Korinman. She went through drama school in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

, and studied film directing at the University College of Film, Radio, Television and Theatre in Stockholm in the early 1970s. Her breakthrough as a documentary filmmaker was in 1972 with ''Viggen 37: Ett militärplans historia'', about the Swedish

Saab 37 Viggen The Saab 37 Viggen (Swedish for ''"the Bolt"'' or ''"the Tufted Duck"'' ( see name)) is a retired Swedish single-seat, single-engine, short-medium range combat aircraft. Development work on the type was initiated at Saab in 1952 and, following ...

combat aircraft. Wechselmann's films often deal with themes such as international solidarity and current political events, and her perspective is that of the political left. She is a member of the Left Party (''Vänsterpartiet''), and was a Left Party candidate in the Swedish European Parliament election of 2009. She is sometimes controversial, and has been described as pugnacious and humourless, but her critics also remark on the strong pathos that drives her work. Maj Wechselmann-1990

She has received a number of awards for her work, including the

Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS) ( sv, Svenska freds- och skiljedomsföreningen) is a non-governmental organization in Sweden, dedicated to peace, disarmament and democratization. It operates by methods including publishing, lobbyin ...

's peace prizethe Lenin Award, and the Moa Award.

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* Swedish documentary filmmakers 1942 births Living people Dramatiska Institutet alumni {{Sweden-film-director-stub