About me

Director, Writer

Fiona Ziegler grew up in Basel and Bern in Switzerland. She studied literature, history and international politics at the Universities of Fribourg, Bologna and Geneva, where she graduated with a Master degree in International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute IHEID. She worked as a freelancer for the newspaper “Der Bund”, was assistant director at the “Theater Hebbel (HAU)“ in Berlin and studied “Method Acting“ at the “Lee Stasberg Theatre & Film Institute” in NYC.

She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in screenwriting and film-directing at FAMU in Prague. Her feature film debut “Lost in Paradise” premiered at the Prague International Film Festival in 2021 and was nominated for the “Prix du Public” at the Solothurn Film Festival in Switzerland. Fiona’s short films “Home” (2013), “2:1” (2013), “God Particle” (2015) and “Thank You Ben” (2016; Award: Best Film “New Delhi Short Film Festival”) were all screened internationally.

SHOWREEL SHORT FILMS

Fiona is currently working on her second and third feature films “Ingeborg Bachmann’s Dealer, my Grandmother” and “Frames of Freedom – Věra Chytilová” and writes her mini-series THE FASSBINDS, a tragicomic family period piece set between a distillery and the alpine hotel industry. Fiona has been a jury member at the Hungarian Miskolc International Film Festival and the ZFF in Switzerland. She is alumni of the ZFF Academy 2016, MIDPOINT and MFI. Fiona taught at FIOFA, teaches at FAMU; since 2024 she is President of the Bern Film Fund.

ARTICLES

Ve Švýcarsku dáte slovo a to platí. , Hospodářské Noviny, Irena Jirků, 17. 1. 2020

Angst vor den Russen sitzt den Tschechen erneut im Nacken, Der Bund, Regula Fuchs, 10.05.2022

Im Tschechischen sind ironische Untertöne wichtig, Persoenlich.com, Dominic Schmid, 12.08.2021

Das Recht etwas zu Erzählen, Prager Zeitung, Stefan Welzel, 5. 12. 2013

Kusturica war ihr Türöffner, Der Bund, Alexander Sury, Aug 5, 2012