Ursula Meier facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ursula Meier
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Meier in 2012
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| Born | 24 June 1971 Besançon, France
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| Occupation | Film director, screenwriter |
Ursula Meier (born on June 24, 1971) is a talented film director and screenwriter from France and Switzerland. She is known for making movies that explore interesting stories and characters.
Contents
Ursula Meier's Film Journey
Ursula Meier grew up in Besançon, a city in eastern France, close to the Swiss border. She studied film in Belgium at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion. Early in her career, she worked as an assistant director for a famous Swiss filmmaker named Alain Tanner. She helped him with his films Fourbi (1996) and Jonas et Lila, à demain (1999).
Early Success with Short Films
Ursula Meier started gaining recognition for her short films. In 1998, her short film Des heures sans sommeil (meaning Sleepless) won a special award at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival. It also received a big international prize at the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival.
Another one of her short films, Tous à table (meaning Table Manners), won the Audience Award at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival in 2001. It also won an award for Best French-Language Short Film at the Créteil International Women's Film Festival. In 2002, this film was nominated for a Swiss Film Prize.
Moving to Feature Films
In 2003, Ursula Meier was a judge at the Brest European Short Film Festival. That same year, her TV movie Strong Shoulders won an award in Portugal and was nominated for a Swiss Film Prize as the best feature film. She even traveled to New York City to introduce Strong Shoulders at a film festival there.
Award-Winning Movies
Six years later, her film Home was also shown at the New Directors/New Films Festival in New York. This movie first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, which is a very famous film festival.
Her 2012 film L'enfant d'en haut (meaning Sister) was shown at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. It won a special award called the Silver Bear. This film was also chosen to represent Switzerland for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards.
In 2013, she was a judge at the 35th Moscow International Film Festival. She also worked with many other famous directors on a group film called Bridges of Sarajevo, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014.
In 2018, Ursula Meier was the head of the jury for the Caméra d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival. This award is given to the best first feature film. She also supported the Locarno International Film Festival in promoting equality in the film industry.
Her most recent feature film, The Line (La Ligne), was shown in competition at the Berlin Film Festival in 2022.
Ursula Meier's Films (as writer and director)
Here are some of the films Ursula Meier has written and directed:
Feature Films
- 2000: Autour de Pinget (About Pinget) – a documentary film
- 2002: Strong Shoulders – a movie made for TV
- 2008: Home – starring famous actors Isabelle Huppert and Olivier Gourmet
- 2012: L'enfant d'en haut (Sister)
- 2014: Bridges of Sarajevo – a documentary
- 2017: Shock Waves – Diary of My Mind – part of a mini-series
- 2022: The Line (La Ligne)
Short Films
- 1994: À corps perdu (To the Lost Body)
- 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)
Awards and Nominations
Ursula Meier's films have won many awards and received nominations. Here are some of them:
For Kacey Mottet Klein, Naissance d'un acteur:
- Swiss Film Award for best short film
- Grand Prix Award for Short Documentary at the Cork International Film Festival
- Audience Choice - Top 10 International short film at the Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival
- Youth Jury Prize at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival
For Home:
- Best Director award at the Festival du Film Francophone d'Angoulême
- Swiss Film Award for best feature film and best screenplay
- Nominated for a César for Best first feature film
- Best Film at Argentina's Mar del Plata Film Festival (nomination)
- Best Screenplay at the Festival International du Cinéma d'Auteur de Rabat
- FIPRESCI Award at the Reykjavik International Film Festival
For L'enfant d'en haut (Sister):
- Silver Bear - Special Award at the Berlin International Film Festival
- Swiss Film Award for best feature film, best screenplay, and best actor (Kasey Mottet Klein)
- Nominated for a César for Best male newcomer (Kacey Mottet Klein)
- Best feature film at the Trophées Francophones du Cinéma Dakar
- The Golden Athena Award at the Athens International Film Festival
- Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Best Feature Film at the Denver Film Festival
- Prix FIPRESCI at the Ljubljana International Film Festival
- Jury Award for Best Cinematography at the Sevilla Festival de Cine Europeo
See also
In Spanish: Ursula Meier para niños
