Lionel Baier
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Lionel Baier | |
|---|---|
 Baier at DIFF 2026 | |
| Born | 13 December 1975 |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 2003–present |
Lionel Baier (born 13 December 1975 in Lausanne) is a Swiss film director.[1]
Lionel Baier studied Art at University of Lausanne from 1995–98. In 2009, he co-founds the production company Bande à Part films, together with Ursula Meier, Jean-Stéphane Bron and Frédéric Mermoud.[2][3]
Several of his films have been nominated for or awarded with the Swiss Film Award: Émile de 1 à 5 was nominated in the Best Short Film category in 2012,[4] Comme des voleurs was nominated for Best Feature Film in 2007, as was Longwave (Les grandes Ondes (à L'ouest)) in 2014 and Vanity (La vanité) in 2016; the latter two were also nominated for the Best Screenplay award, which Baier co-wrote with Julien Boussioux.[5][6] For their performance in Vanity, actor Patrick Lapp was awarded the prize for best male lead, as well as Ivan Georgiev for best supporting actor.[7]
His films have been screened at various prestigious festivals: Vanity premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival in the ACID section,[8] and later screened in the Piazza Grande at the Locarno Film Festival.[9] In 2018, Shock Waves: First Name: Mathieu (Ondes de choc – Prénom: Mathieu) was released, as part of the loose TV crime series Shock Waves (Ondes de choc), based on true stories. The film premiered at the Berlinale in 2018.[10]
His latest feature film, Continental Drift (South) (La dérive des continents (au Sud)), has premiere in the Director's Fortnight section at Cannes in 2022.[11]
Besides his work as a director and screenwriter, he teaches at École cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ÉCAL) in Lausanne, which's film department he chaired from 2002–21.[12]
Filmography (selection)
- 2000: Celui au pasteur
- 2002: La Parade (notre histoire)
- 2004: Stupid Boy (Garçon stupide)
- 2006: Comme des voleurs
- 2008: Un autre homme
- 2011: La faute à Rousseau (co-directed)
- 2012: Émile de 1 à 5 (short film)
- 2013: Longwave (Les grandes ondes (à l'Ouest))
- 2015: Vanity (La vanité)
- 2018: Shock Waves: First Name: Mathieu (Ondes de choc – Prénom: Mathieu)
- 2022: Continental Drift (South) (La dérive des continents (au Sud))
- 2025: The Safe House, In competition at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival[13]
