Xavier Ruiz (born 1970 in
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
,
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
) is a
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
film director
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
and producer.
Education
From 1992 to 1994, he studied at ESRA (''
Ecole supérieure de réalisation audiovisuelle'') in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and obtained a BTS in production. Then, he took classes from the workshop AVID, Video and Arts - New York in 1995.
Career
From 1992 to 1999, he produced and line-produced a dozen short films, such as ''Perfect Day'' by Reza Rezaï and ''Talon d’Achille'' by Nicholas Cuthbert. In 1994, he became unit manager for a Canal + TV series and in 1995-96, he worked as international sales manager at Fox Lorber in New York. He continues to work in the marketing department at New Concorde/Horizon in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
He directs in 1997 a TV mini-series titled ''The Toilette Zone''. In 1997, Hamster production hired him as unit manager for a TV series broadcast on
France 2
France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...
. From 1996 until 2001, he worked as freelance editor for television and feature films.
In 2001, he directed and produced his first feature film, ''Neutre'' that is released on Swiss cinema screens the same year, then on television in 2003 and on DVD throughout Switzerland. ''Neutre'' was screened in many festivals, among others Montréal, Mar del Plata, Hof, Brunswick and Geneva. At the same time, he formed his production company. He then directed a music video for a Swiss rap band
Sens Unik.
In 2003, he directed two documentaries for the series ''PHOTOsuisse'' for the ''
Télévision Suisse Romande'' (TSR). In 2004, he produced Elena Hazanov’s first feature film ''Love Express'' that was distributed in French-speaking Switzerland as of September 1. The same year, he co-produced with the TSR the documentary ''Geisha, The Twilight of Flowers'', broadcast on TSR2 on December 6, 2004 and sold to numerous TV channels. He produced ''Ryna'', Ruxandra Zenide’s first feature, released in Swiss theaters in 2006 and selected in many festivals, where it won numerous awards, among others at Cinéma Tout Ecran, Mannheim-Heidelberg, Tromso, Annonay and Milan.
In 2005, he also directed the documentary ''Swiss Made in Hollywood'', which relates to the actual experiences of three young Swiss people who try to build their career in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
. The TSR broadcast it twice in May 2005 and TV5 in May and August 2005. The same year, he directed an episode of the series ''DESIGNsuisse'' about the designer
Yves Béhar. At the same time, he starts writing with Nicholas Cuthbert the screenplay of his second feature film ''Verso''.
His production company Navarro Films joins in March 2006 the group of European producers Tarantula, present in France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Great Britain, and officially became Tarantula Suisse. Xavier Ruiz has finished his second feature film Verso and directed the Swiss version of
Spitting Image, named Les Bouffons de la Confédération. He's a full-time director with his co-director Jean-Paul Cardinaux. In 2015, he and his partner co-directed "Sweet Girls", the first swiss feature film that was released on Amazon Prime Video, in 2018.
Filmography
Director
* Feature Film ''Sweet Girls'', 103 min
* TV Series Les Bouffons de la Confédération, 38x12 min
* Music Video ''Stress - V'', 4 min
* Feature Film ''Verso'', 100 min
* Feature Film Neutre, 92 min
* Documentary DesignSuisse, 12 min
* Documentary Swiss made in Hollywood, 52 min
* Documentary PhotoSuisse, 2x12 min
* Music Video SENS UNIK - Dans le creux de sa main, 5 min
* TV Series The Toilette Zone, 6x2 min
Producer
* Feature Documentary ''Cri de l'Ame'' de
Dominique Othenin-Girard, 64 min
* Feature Film ''Sweet Girls'', 103 min
* TV Series Les Bouffons de la Confédération, 38x12 min
* Music Video ''Stress - V'', 4 min
* Feature Film 'Verso', 100 min
* Feature Film Ryna de Ruxandra Zenide, 90 min
* Feature Film Love Express, de Elena Hazanov, 100 min
* Feature Film Neutre, de Xavier Ruiz, 92 min
* Feature Documentary Togo de Pierre Morath et Nioclas Peart, 80 min
* Documentary Geisha, le crépuscule des fleurs de Romain Guélat, 52 min
* Documentary DesignSuisse, 12 min
* Documentary Swiss made in Hollywood, 52 min
* Documentary PhotoSuisse, 2x12 min
* TV Series La Tribu, 10x9 min
* TV Series The Toilette Zone, 6x2 min
* Documentary Series Onoma, Expo 02, 12x6 min
* Music Video SENS UNIK - C'est la vie, 5 min
* Music Video SENS UNIK - Dans le creux de sa main, 5 min
* Short Film Week-end Break, 14 min
* Short Film Perfect Day, 20 min
* Short Film Talon d'Achille 14 min
* Short Film The Barber, 10 min
* Short Film Dieu que pour toi, 10 min
* Short Film Tango Lola, 6 min
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Xavier
Swiss film directors
1970 births
Living people
Film people from Geneva