Francis Reusser is an iconic Swiss film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Swiss Cinema. Reusser was born on October 14th, 1938 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Reusser studied philosophy at the University of Fribourg and then went on to study filmmaking at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques in Paris. He began his professional career in the early 1960s, directing and producing several short films. His first feature-length film, “La Lettre,” was released in 1967 and won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival.
In 1972, Reusser made his breakthrough with his film “The Boat is Full,” which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The film, which focused on the plight of refugees, was a huge critical success and established Reusser as an important voice in Swiss Cinema. He followed this success with the critically acclaimed “The Great Land,” which was released in 1973.
Reusser continued to make critically acclaimed films throughout the 1980s and 1990s, such as “The Promise,” “The Garden,” and “The Boatman.” He also directed several television miniseries, including “The Swiss Conspiracy” and “The Challenge.” In 1994, Reusser was awarded the Prix Léopold-Sédar Senghor from the Académie des Arts et Sciences du Cinéma.
In recent years, Reusser has continued to make films, including “The Old Man and His Animals” (2007) and “The Baobab” (2010). He has also written and directed several stage plays, including “The Great Wall of China” and “The Last Night of the World.”
Francis Reusser is one of the most influential and celebrated directors in Swiss cinema. His films have won numerous awards and have been praised for their realism, humanism, and political themes. Reusser continues to be an important figure in Swiss cinema and is considered one of the greats of the genre.
