Xavier Koller (born 1944, Schwyz, Switzerland) is a Swiss

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. He is most known for his work on the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

live action film '' Squanto: A Warrior's Tale'', an adventure historical fiction film based on the life of

Squanto Tisquantum (; 1585 (±10 years?) – late November 1622 O.S.), more commonly known as Squanto Sam (), was a member of the Patuxet tribe best known for being an early liaison between the Native American population in Southern New England and ...

, and his film '' Journey of Hope'', which won the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

Early life

After graduating from high school, Koller first went through a four-year apprenticeship as a precision toolmaker and then, after three years of training at the Academy of Drama in Zurich, Switzerland, graduated as an actor/director. The next several years he spent acting and directing at

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and Swiss theatres. He did a number of TV-plays as an actor, directed commercials, acted in movies, and then started to write and direct feature films.

Film career

Awards and accolades

Filmography

*''

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Pu ...

'' (1972) (director, screenplay) *'' Mädchen, die am Wege liegen'' (1976) (director: additional scenes) *''Trilogie 1848 - Der Galgensteiger'' (1978) (director, writer) (TV film) *'' The Frozen Heart'' (''Das gefrorene Herz'') (1979) (director, screenplay) *'' Tanner'' (''Der schwarze Tanner'') (1985) (director, writer) *'' Journey of Hope'' (''Reise der Hoffnung'') (1990) (director, writer) *'' Squanto: A Warrior's Tale'' (1994) (director) *''

Gripsholm Gripsholm Castle ( sv, Gripsholms slott) is a castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden. It is located by lake Mälaren in south central Sweden, in the municipality of Strängnäs, about 60 km west of Stockholm. Since Gustav Vasa, Grips ...

'' (2000) (director) *'' Cowboy Up'' (2001) (director) *' (2002) (director, writer) (short film) *' (2006) (director) (TV film) *' (2011) (director, writer) *' (2015) (director, writer)

References

External links

*
Xavier Koller
at th
Swiss Film Directory
Living people Swiss film directors Swiss screenwriters Male screenwriters 1944 births German-language film directors Zurich University of the Arts alumni Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners {{Switzerland-film-director-stub