Ursula Meier (born 24 June 1971) is a French-Swiss film director and screenwriter.

Career

A native of

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

, the capital of the

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

region in eastern France, near the Swiss border, Ursula Meier graduated from Belgium's Institut des Arts de Diffusion nstitute of Visual Artsand served as assistant director to the Swiss

auteur An (; , ) is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded and personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, thus manifesting the director's unique style or thematic ...

Alain Tanner Alain Tanner (6 December 1929 – 11 September 2022) was a Swiss film director. Early years and education Tanner was born in Geneva, and studied economics at the University of Geneva. In 1951, he joined the film club which Claude Goretta had r ...

, on his films ''Fourbi'' (''Gear)'' (1996) and ''Jonas et Lila, à demain'' (''Jonas and Lila, 'Till Tomorrow'') (1999). She won her first major film award for the 1998 short, ''Des heures sans sommeil'' (''Sleepless)'', which received the Special Jury Prize at the Festival International du Court-Métrage de

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

as well as the International Grand Prize at the 1998

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

and a Best Short Fiction Film nomination at the Molodist International Film Festival in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. In 2002, her film ''Tous à table'' (''Table Manners''), which had already won the Audience Award and the Press Award at the 2001 Clermont-Ferrand Festival, as well as the Best French-Language Short Film award at the 2001

Créteil International Women's Film Festival The International Women's Film Festival, formerly known as Créteil International Women's Film Festival (in French Festival International de Films de Femmes (FIFF); formerly Festival international de films de femmes de Créteil), also known si ...

, received a Swiss Film Prize nomination for Best Short Film. In 2003, Ursula Meier served as a member of the jury at the

Brest European Short Film Festival The Brest European Short Film Festival (French language, French: Festival européen du film court de Brest) is a film festival dedicated to short films, happening every year in Brest, France, Brest, in the Brittany region in France. It has been ...

and won the Cinema Prize – Feature Film award at Portugal's Avanca Film Festival as well as a nomination for the Swiss Film Prize as best feature film for her

made-for-TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrestr ...

, ''Strong Shoulders''. In April, with the selection of ''Strong Shoulders'' for New York City's

New Directors/New Films Festival The New Directors/New Films Festival is an annual film festival held in New York City, organized jointly by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Established in 1972, the Festival generally selects films from first-t ...

at the Museum of Modern Art and Film Society of Lincoln Center, she made the journey to introduce the film and participate in question-and-answer sessions. Six years later, ''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

'' was also selected for New Directors/New Films and, in April 2009, she once again made appearances at the Museum of Modern Art and The Walter Reade Theatre, introducing the New York premiere of the film. The film had premiered as a special screening in the

Critics' Week Critics' Week (), until 2008 called International Critics' Week ('), is a parallel section to the Cannes Film Festival organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. History Critics' week was created in 1962, after the French Syndicate of ...

section at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in May 2008. Her 2012 film '' L'enfant d'en haut'' premiered in competition at the

62nd Berlin International Film Festival The 62nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 19 February 2012. British film director Mike Leigh was the president of the jury. The first five films to be screened in the competition were announced on 19 December 2011. Am ...

, where it won the Special Award - Silver Bear. It has also been selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p ...

, making the January shortlist. In 2013 she was a member of the jury at the

35th Moscow International Film Festival The 35th Moscow International Film Festival took place between 20 and 29 June 2013. ''World War Z (film), World War Z'' was selected as the opening film. The Golden George was awarded to the Turkish film ''Particle (film), Particle''. Films in c ...

. She took part in the collective film ''

Bridges of Sarajevo ''Bridges of Sarajevo'' () is a 2014 anthology film exploring Sarajevo present and past, directed by thirteen different directors. It was shown in the Special Screenings section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Creators * Directors: ** Aida B ...

'', together with twelve other renowned directors. The film premiered within the Special Screenings at Cannes Film Festival in 2014. In 2018, she was the president of the Jury for the

Caméra d'Or The Caméra d'Or ("''Golden Camera''") is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight or Critics' Week). The prize was created in 1978 Ca ...

, the award for the best first feature at Cannes Film Festival, and was the Godmother of the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

's signing the SWAN pledge

5050x2020 5050x2020 is a hashtag used to campaign for gender parity in the film industry. The campaign was launched by the Swedish Film Institute at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. Origin The campaign #5050x2020 was launched at the 2016 Cannes Film Festiva ...

. '' The Line'' (''La Ligne''), her next feature, premiered again in the competition at Berlin Film Festival in 2022.

Filmography (as screenwriter and director)

Feature films

*2000: ''Autour de Pinget'' (''About Pinget)'' (

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

) *2002: ''Strong Shoulders'' (made-for-TV movie), starring Louise Szpindel and Jean-François Stévenin *2008: ''

'', starring

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Known for her portrayals of cold, austere women devoid of morality, she is considered one of the greatest actresses of her generation. With 16 nominations and two win ...

and

Olivier Gourmet Olivier Gourmet (born 22 July 1963) is a Belgium, Belgian actor. Gourmet was born in Namur. He won the Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival), Best Actor award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his role in ''The Son (2002 film), Le Fils'' ...

*2012: '' L'enfant d'en haut'' (''Sister)'' *2014: ''

'', documentary *2017: ''

Shock Waves – Diary of My Mind ''Shock Waves'' () is a Swiss television drama anthology series, broadcast by Radio Télévision Suisse in 2018. The series consisted of four television films dramatizing true crime stories from European history. The episodes premiered theatrical ...

'', part of the ''

Shock Waves In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

'' mini-series *2022: '' The Line'' (''La Ligne'')

Short films

*1994: ''À corps perdu'' (''To the Lost Body)'' (with writer and co-director Cédric Havenith) *1998: ''Des heures sans sommeil'' (''Sleepless)'' *2001: ''Tous à table'' (''Table Manners)'' *2015: ''Kacey Mottet Klein, Naissance d'un acteur (Kacey Mottet Klein, Birth of an actor)'', short film

Awards and nominations (selection)

For ''Kacey Mottet Klein, Naissance d'un acteur (Kacey Mottet Klein, Birth of an actor):'' *

Swiss Film Award The Swiss Film Awards (, , , ; also known as the Swiss Film Prize) are national film awards awarded in several categories of Switzerland, first given out in 1998. History Between 1998 and 2008 the prize was given during the Solothurn Film Fest ...

for best short film *

Cork International Film Festival Cork International Film Festival (CIFF), also known the Cork Film Festival (), is a film festival held annually in Cork City, Ireland. It was established in 1956 as part of An Tóstal, and is Ireland's oldest and largest film festival. It is typi ...

, Grand Prix Award for Short Documentary * Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival, Audience Choice - Top 10 International short film * Plein la Bobine - Festival International de Cinéma Jeunes Publics du Massif du Sancy, Prix du Jury professionnel * Chicago Int. Children's Film Festival, Youth Jury Prize - Live-action Short Film For ''

'': * Best Director award at the Festival du Film Francophone d'

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

* Swiss Film Award for best feature film as well as best screenplay (with Antoine Jaccoud) * César for Best first feature film (nomination) * Best Film at Argentina's

Mar del Plata Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival () is an List of film festivals, international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF ...

''(nomination)'' * Festival International du Cinéma d'Auteur de Rabat, Best Screenplay (with Antoine Jaccoud) * Festival du film francophone Athens, Grand Prize of the city of Athènes *

Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata The Mar del Plata International Film Festival () is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF in Latin America, and ...

, ADF Award Best Photographer (

Agnès Godard Agnès Godard (born 28 May 1951) is a French cinematographer. She is most famous for her long-running collaboration with filmmaker Claire Denis. For her work, she has won a César Award. Life and career Godard originally studied journalism, but s ...

) * Reykjavik International Film Festival, FIPRESCI Award * Paris, SACD Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, Prix SACD Nouveau Talent Cinéma * Mostra internacional de films de dones, Prix du public * Flying Broom Women's Film Festival, FIPRESCI Award For '' L'enfant d'en haut (Sister)'': *

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

, Silver Bear - Special Award *

for best feature film, best screenplay (with Antoine Jaccoud) and best actor ( Kasey Mottet Klein) * César Best male newcomer (Kacey Mottet Klein, Nomination) * Trophées Francophones du Cinéma Dakar, Best feature film * Zurich Film Award * Athens International Film Festival, The Golden Athena Award *

Denver Film Festival The Denver Film Festival is held in November, primarily at the Denver Film Center/Colfax, in Denver, Colorado, now the Anna and John J. Sie FilmCenter (Sie FilmCenter). Premiere events are held in the Buell Theatre and Ellie Caulkins Opera House ...

, Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Best Feature Film * Trento Film Festival, "Luciano Emmer" Critics Award *

Ljubljana International Film Festival The Ljubljana International Film Festival (also known as LIFFe) is an international film festival established in 1990 and held annually in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Apart from screenings of Slovenian films, it also regularly features renowned authors' ...

, Prix FIPRESCI * Fünf Seen Filmfestival, Fünf Seen Filmpreis * Sevilla Festival de Cine Europeo, Jury Award for Best Cinematography (Agnès Godard) *

Festival du Film de Cabourg The Cabourg Film Festival takes place on the seaside of Normandy every year in June. With romance as its theme, the festival presents a selection of films dedicated to passion, love, and fantasies. The festival was founded by Gonzague Saint Br ...

, Best actrice (

Léa Seydoux Léa Hélène Seydoux-Fornier de Clausonne (; born 1 July 1985) is a French actress. Prolific in both French cinema and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood, she has received five César Award nominations, two Lumière Awards, a Palme d'Or a ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meier, Ursula 1971 births Living people Swiss film directors Swiss screenwriters Swiss women film directors French women film directors French film directors Film people from Besançon French women screenwriters French screenwriters