Olivier Zuchuat is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

. Born in 1969 in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. After studying theoretical physics at EPFL and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

and literature he became a teaching assistant at the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

(

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

). He directed several theatrical productions of works by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

and

Heiner Müller Heiner Müller (; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German) dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are a significant contribution to postmodern drama and postdr ...

and also worked as assistant with the German theater director

Matthias Langhoff Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. People Notable people named Matthias include the following: In religion: * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscariot * ...

(

Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers The Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, also Théâtre des Amandiers, is a theatre in Nanterre and a known theatre outside of Paris. The present building opened in 1976. The company is a ''Centre dramatique national'' (National dramatic center), a natio ...

). Since 2001, he dedicates himself mainly with cinema. Since 2006, he has been teaching film studies at the Université de Paris-Est Marne la Vallée and at LA FEMIS Cinema School (Paris).

Filmography

* 2012 : ''

Like Stone lions at the gateway into night ''Like Stone Lions at the Gateway into Night'' (french: Comme des lions de pierre à l'entrée de la nuit) is a 2012 documentary film by Olivier Zuchuat. Summary Between 1947 and 1950, more than 80,000 Greek citizens were imprisoned on the isle o ...

'' (86 minutes, DCP) * 2008 : ''Far from the villages'' (75 minutes, 35mm), documentary film on a refugees camp in Chad

Darfur Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...

* 2005 : ''Djourou, a rope round your neck'' (63 minutes), documentary film on the debt crisis in

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

* 2001 : ''Mah Damba, une griotte en exil'' (57 minutes), documentary film on the singer Mah Damba, co-directed with

Corinne Maury Corinne Maury is a French lecturer in film studies as well as a film director. Career Maury defended her doctoral thesis ''Habiter le monde : figures poétiques dans le cinéma du réel'' at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle in 2 ...

Awards

* Best documentary "Regard sur le monde" – Festival Vues d’Afriques, Montréal 2005 * Médiathèques Award, FIDMarseille 2008 * Quartz 2009 - Swiss Cinema Award, Nomination for best documentary film * International Film Festival Innsbruck 2009 - Best Documentary * Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Award 2009 - Nomination * DOK Leipzig 2013 - Oecumenical Jury Award (International Competition) * Festival International du Film Méditerranéen de Tétouan 2013 - Jury Award * Festival International du film Insulaire (Groix 2014) - Jury Award (special mention)

External links

www.olivierzuchuat.net
*
Director's portrait at Swissfilmssite for the film ''Far from the villages'' at IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuchuat, Olivier Living people 1969 births Film people from Geneva Alumni of Trinity College Dublin École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne alumni Swiss documentary film directors