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Susanne Bier (Danish: [suˈsænə ˈpiɐ̯ˀ]; born 15 April 1960) is a Danish filmmaker. Bier is the first female director to collectively receive an Academy Award (Foreign Film), a Golden Globe Award, a European Film Award (for In a Better World) and a Primetime Emmy Award (for directing The Night Manager).[2]

Key Information

Bier made her feature film debut with Freud's Leaving Home (1991). She has directed a string of films including Open Hearts (2002), Brothers (2004), After the Wedding (2006), and In a Better World (2010), where In a Better World won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. She directed the English-language films Things We Lost in the Fire (2007), Love Is All You Need (2012), Serena (2014), and Bird Box (2018).

On television, she directed the BBC One / AMC miniseries The Night Manager (2016) earning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. She also directed the HBO psychological miniseries The Undoing (2020), the Showtime historical anthology series The First Lady (2022), and the Netflix mystery series The Perfect Couple (2024).

Early life and education

[edit]

Susanne Bier was born to a Jewish family in Copenhagen, Denmark on 15 April 1960. The family of her father, Rudolf Salomon Baer (born 1930), emigrated from Germany to Denmark in 1933 after Hitler's rise to power. The family of her mother, Heni (née Jonas; born 1936), emigrated to Denmark from Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, to escape rising antisemitism. In 1943, the two families fled from Denmark to Sweden, together with most Danish Jews, to escape the deportation to the Nazi death camps. Three years after the end of World War II, they returned to Denmark. The effects of the Holocaust caused Bier's parents to instill the strong moral values and principles into their children. Later, the importance of human resilience and dignity would be a recurring theme in her films.[3]

During her schooling, she attended Niels Steensens Gymnasium. In interviews for the media as an adult, Bier describes herself as lacking in social skills as a child, who liked to play football with boys and preferred reading books to interacting with others. After high school, citing a desire to reconnect with her Jewish roots, she studied art at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. Later she would study architecture at the Architectural Association in London before finally returning to film and graduating from the National Film School of Denmark in 1987.[4] De Saliges (1987), Bier's graduation film, won first prize at the Munich film school festival and was subsequently distributed by Channel Four.[5]

Career

[edit]

1990–1999: Early work and film debut

[edit]

After directing music videos, commercials and the feature films Freud Flytter Hjemmefra (Freud's Leaving Home, 1990), Det Bli'r i Familien (Family Matters, 1993), Pensionat Oscar (Like it Was Never Before, 1995) and Sekten (Credo, 1997), Bier made a breakthrough in her home country of Denmark with the film The One and Only in 1999. A romantic comedy about the fragility of life, the film won a clutch of Danish Film Academy awards and established Bier's relationship with actress Paprika Steen. The film remains one of the most successful domestic films ever released in Denmark.

A sidestep from the easy going charm of Livet är en schlager (Once in a Lifetime, 2000), Elsker dig for evigt (Open Hearts, 2002) brought Bier's work to much wider international attention and acclaim. Acutely observed and beautifully written by Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen, the film is a perceptive and painful exploration of broken lives and interconnected tragedies. Made under Dogme 95 regulations, the film also marked a move towards a more minimalist aesthetic.

Since the completion of Open Hearts, Bier's reputation has continued to ascend with the harrowing Brødre (Brothers, 2004) and the emotionally engaging Efter Brylluppet (After the Wedding, 2006), which was nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the 2007 Academy Awards. After her first American film, Things We Lost in the Fire (2008) starring Benicio del Toro and Halle Berry, Bier went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film for In a Better World (2010).[6]

Also a maker of shorts, music videos and commercials, Bier's films typically meditate on pain, tragedy, and atonement. Bier is signed as a commercial director with international production company, SMUGGLER.[7] After graduation, Bier was invited to Sweden to direct Freud's Leaving Home, which was critically acclaimed by film critics. The film follows a girl, Freud, from Sweden who comes from a Jewish family, and it became the first feature film in Sweden to depict Swedish-Jewish culture. With its heavily Jewish focus, the film "addresses the Jewish experience to an extent that is in rare in Scandinavian cinema".[8] The film won ten awards and was nominated for an additional three. Her next film Family Matters continued exploration of complex, tabooed family relations begun in Freud's Leaving Home, including an incestuous relationship between brother and sister.[9] Bier returned to taboo subjects with the film The One and Only in 1999. The film is a Danish romantic comedy starring Sidse Babett Knudsen, Niels Olsen, Rafael Edholm, and Paprika Steen in a story about two unfaithful married couples faced with becoming first-time parents. The film was considered to mark a modern transition in Danish romantic comedies,[9] The film earned both the Robert Award and Bodil Award as the Best Film of 1999.

2000–2014: Rise to prominence and acclaim

[edit]

Following the influence of Dogme 95 manifesto, Bier directed the film Open Hearts in 2002. Open Hearts tells the story of two couples whose lives are traumatized by a car crash and adultery. Open Hearts received a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes movie review website.[10] Susanne Bier received the International Critics Award at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival.[11][12] The film won both the Bodil and Robert awards for Best Danish Film in 2003.

Bier in 2009

In Bier's next film Brothers (2004) we follow the story of two brothers, Michael and Jannik. The character of Michael has a promising military career, a beautiful wife and two beautiful girls; Michael is shown preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan early in the movie. His younger brother, Jannik, has recently been imprisoned for an attempted bank robbery. Michael picked up Jannik from prison the day before being deployed to Afghanistan; their already strained relationship is shown to be especially tense. While in Afghanistan, Michael's helicopter is shot down- all soldiers are presumed dead, but Michael and a fellow soldier below him are imprisoned. Michael is ultimately forced to kill his fellow soldier. Sarah is supported by Jannik who, against all odds, takes care of the family. Soon, Sarah and Jannik become closer as he fulfills the space/role previously held by his brother. Michael is ultimately rescued by US forces and is able to return home, but to disastrous results. The film tackles the theme of the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and the psychological aftermath of prisoners of war. The plot shows inspiration from Homer's Odyssey. It won several awards, including the audience award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival UCMF Movie Music Award. An opera based on the story of the film by Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason was premiered in Aarhus on 16 August 2017. It was commissioned by Den Jyske Opera. Kerstin Perski wrote the libretto and the director was Kasper Holten. To celebrate Aarhus as the European capital of culture 2017 three stage works were produced; a musical, dance and an opera all based on films by Bier were commissioned and performed in Musikhuset.

Bier's next film tells the story of Jacob Petersen who manages an Indian orphanage. With a small staff, he works as hard as he can to keep the orphanage afloat and is personally invested in the young charges - in particular, Pramod, a young boy Jacob has cared for since the boy's birth. The film was a critical and popular success and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Time magazine's Richard Schickel named the film one of the Top 10 Movies of 2007, ranking it at #4, calling it a "dark, richly mounted film". While Schickel saw the film as possibly "old-fashioned stylistically, and rather manipulative in its plotting", he also saw "something deeply satisfying in the way it works out the fates of its troubled, yet believable characters."[13] The film was remade as the English-language After the Wedding in 2019, starring Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Billy Crudup.

In this film we follow the character of Audrey who has been married for eleven years with Brian and leads a well-to-do life, but suddenly her husband dies after trying to defend a woman from an assault. Left alone with two children, Audrey has to face the terrible pain of loss, so she decides to welcome Jerry, her friend's friend, with problems of drug addiction. The two will establish a relationship that will force them to unite their pains, helping each other to make a change in their lives, the difficult search for happiness. Critics gave the film generally favorable reviews. As of 29 January 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 64% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 117 reviews.[14] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 63 out of 100, based on 30 reviews.[15] The two leads received praise for their performances, particularly Benicio Del Toro as he received immense acclaim for his portrayal of Jerry, considered one of his best roles to date.

In a Better World (Danish: Hævnen, "the revenge") is a 2010 Danish drama thriller film written by Anders Thomas Jensen and directed by Susanne Bier. The film stars Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, and Ulrich Thomsen in a story which takes place in small-town Denmark and a refugee camp in Africa. A Danish majority production with co-producers in Sweden, In a Better World won the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film as well as the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.[16] Director Susanne Bier said: "Our experiment in this film is about looking at how little it really takes before a child – or an adult – thinks something is deeply unjust. It really doesn't take much, and I find that profoundly interesting. And scary."[17] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 77% out of 114 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with the site consensus stating that "In a Better World is a sumptuous melodrama that tackles some rather difficult existential and human themes."[18] Metacritic gave the film a score of 65, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[19]

Kim Skotte called the film a "powerful and captivating drama" in Politiken. Out of the four collaborations between Jensen and Bier, he considered In a Better World to be the one most similar to Jensen's solo films and compared the combination of biblical themes and high entertainment value to Jensen's 2005 film Adam's Apples.[20] Peter Nielsen of Dagbladet Information called In a Better World "in all ways a successful film", and although there "is no doubt that Susanne Bier can tell a good story", he was not entirely convinced: "She can seduce, and she can push the completely correct emotional buttons, so that mothers' as well as fathers' hearts are struck, but she doesn't earnestly drill her probe into the meat."[20]

Bier at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2015

In 2012, Bier directed Den skaldede frisør (Love is All You Need), a 2012 Danish romantic comedy film starring Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm. In 2013 she was a member of the jury at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.[21] In 2014, she directed her second American feature, dark romantic drama Serena starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, and shortly after followed up with Danish drama A Second Chance starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ulrich Thomsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Maria Bonnevie. In 2013, Love Is All You Need was selected as best comedy film at the 26th European Film Awards.[22]

In 2014, Bier directed Serena, based on the 2008 novel of the same name by American author Ron Rash.[23] The film stars Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper as newlyweds running a timber business in 1930s North Carolina. Serena has received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 16% based on 106 reviews with an average rating of 4.3/10. The website's critical consensus states "Serena unites an impressive array of talent on either side of the cameras – then leaves viewers to wonder how it all went so wrong."[24] On Metacritic the film has a score of 36 out of 100 based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[25] In 2014, Bier directed A Second Chance (Danish: En chance til), a Danish thriller film. The film stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ulrich Thomsen, Maria Bonnevie, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Lykke May Andersen. It was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[26][27]

2016–present: Television work

[edit]

Taking a break from film, Bier directed The Night Manager, a British television serial starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, David Harewood, Tom Hollander, and Elizabeth Debicki. It is based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John le Carré and adapted to the present day by David Farr.[28][29][30] The six-part series began broadcasting on BBC One on 21 February 2016. In the United States, it began on 19 April 2016 on AMC. It has been sold internationally to over 180 countries, and a second series was commissioned by the BBC and AMC. Scripting duties for the second series were handled by Matthew Orton, Charles Cumming, Namsi Khan and Francesca Gardiner.[31] The first series of The Night Manager was nominated for 36 awards and won 11, including two Primetime Emmy Awards (for director Bier and music composer Victor Reyes)[32] and three Golden Globe Awards (for Hiddleston, Colman, and Laurie).

The series received widespread critical acclaim. Adam Sisman, le Carré's biographer, wrote in UK daily newspaper The Daily Telegraph, "It is more than 20 years since the novel was published, and in that time two film companies have tried and failed to adapt it, concluding that it was impossible to compress into two hours. But this six-hour television adaptation is long enough to give the novel its due." He added, "And though Hugh Laurie may seem a surprising choice to play 'the worst man in the world', he dominates the screen as a horribly convincing villain. Alert viewers may spot a familiar face in the background of one scene, in a restaurant: John le Carré himself makes a cameo, as he did in the films of A Most Wanted Man and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. But he is on screen only for an instant: blink and you'll miss him."[33]

Returning to film, Bier directed Bird Box, an American post-apocalyptic horror film. The screenplay, by Eric Heisserer, was based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Josh Malerman. The film stars Sandra Bullock, and had its world premiere at AFI Fest on 12 November 2018. It was released worldwide on 21 December 2018 by Netflix, and went on to become the most-watched film in Netflix history.[34] On Metacritic, Bird Box has received mixed to positive reviews.[35] Forbes called it a "truly terrible movie".[36]

Bier directed the TV series The Undoing, which premiered on HBO in October 2020 and starred Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.[37] The Undoing became the first HBO original series to grow its audience each week[38] and the network's most watched show of 2020.[39]

Most recently, Bier directed the Showtime limited series The First Lady, starring Viola Davis, Michelle Pfieffer, and Gillian Anderson. The First Lady premiered in April 2022. Most recently, Bier directed the limited TV series,The Perfect Couple starring Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Dakota Fanning, Eve Hewson and Ishaan Khatter. It is an adaptation of the 2018 novel of the same name by Elin Hilderbrand, and premiered on September 5, 2024, on Netflix.

Style and themes

[edit]

Bier's films often deal with the traditional family framework, with the collapse of the bourgeois middle class under the pressure of globalization, terrorism, and war, and the way in which people deal with a disaster or a formative event outside their lives. She notes that the moment that interests her in characters' lives is when their sense of security cracks and the outside world knocks on the door. The main questions in her films are questions of morality: whether it is moral to leave a partner who has become disabled, whether personal good precedes the general good, and how to respond to the violence directed at the individual. Bier often raises questions about how far one would go for a child is in distress, if social services appear to be unable or unwilling to help, and the limits one exceeds to get their own desires fulfilled.[40]

Bier's style of direction gives the players a great deal of freedom, allowing improvisation in both texts and presentation. Her films have a common visual code - all of them are filmed in a shoulder camera, and emotional peaks use extreme close-ups of eyes, lips, and fingers. In addition, the editing method is not faithful to the continuous editing tradition, and it adds to a more free and random feeling.

Bier's films are characterized by the fact that, despite their tragic structure, there is a "flattening" of the dramatic events, or, alternatively, no dramatization of the major events. For example, in the scene of the first encounter between the father and his daughter in After the Wedding, the two of them are silent for most of the scene, and talk about a bottle of water he brings to her. This style of direction creates the feeling that nothing happens in her films, but a thorough analysis of the events shows that the films are faithful to the dramatic structure of the theatre of ancient Greece.

Moreover, Bier makes sure to finish her films with a slightly optimistic tone, saying that although her films are not purely commercial, they are also not pure art, and therefore she should communicate with her audience and give them some light to lean on.[41]

Influences

[edit]

In Susan King's article,[20] Bier claims her Jewish heritage embedded a strong sense of family in conjunction to a sense of instability and turmoil. This pertains to her father's need to flee Germany in 1933 to Denmark, where he met Bier's mother. The two of them fled by boat to Sweden after Nazis began rounding up Jews in Denmark. Originally, Bier imagined herself married to a nice Jewish man with six children. She later decided that she wanted to pursue a career. She has been married twice and has two children, Gabriel and Alice. Despite this, she still holds family as her biggest influence and claims she would have never become a filmmaker without her children. To Bier, "family is a sense of identity". "I speak to my parents every day. I have a very close relationship to my aunts and uncles, but also my ex-husband…who comes to stay with us. I have this almost obsessive desire to whomever is close to me, I want to have a very intense, close, intimate relationship with them. That way of living definitely informs the stories I tell."Although she frequently depicts international stories in third world countries, Bier had never been to Africa or India until she started making movies there. On her frequent interest and depiction of the Third World, Bier insists that "it is sort of pointing out that the Third World is really a part of our lives. It is unavoidable, and we need to relate to it…" As she writes in a public letter after winning the Oscar for In a Better World,[42] "My particular world is not just Copenhagen. It had to be broader than this. My world is larger than it used to be." In Sylvaine Gold's article,[9] Bier claims she doesn't like to be in a state of comfort when working. Typically in her films, happy and comfortable characters are met by situations of extreme sadness and catastrophe. She attributes this obsession to her parents experience during World War II when "society suddenly turned against them" because they were Jewish. Despite this obsession with tragedy, Bier says "I've had a very fortunate, very privileged life [but] I say that with all humility, because it could change tomorrow. But I have a very strong ability to empathize, to understand what things feel like." Her frequent writing collaborator Anders Thomas Jensen confirms this "humanness" in her, that "She's very good at putting herself in a character's place, which is really a gift." Bier also insists that despite her negative depictions in her films, she always wants to end a film with some vestige of hope. She never wants to alienate her audience, that it is always key to "have an ability to communicate".

Personal life

[edit]

Bier first married the Danish-Icelandic film director Tómas Gislason (da), with whom she had a son, Gabriel Bier Gislason (born 1989), who also works in the film industry. With her second husband, the Swedish actor and director Philip Zandén, she had a daughter, the actress Alice Bier Zandén (born 1995)

Following her divorce from Zandén, her partner is the Danish singer and composer Jesper Winge Leisner (da), who wrote the music for several of her films.[43][44]

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year English title Original title Director Writer Producer Notes
1989 Notes on Love Notater om kærligheden No Additional No Also assistant director
1991 Freud's Leaving Home Freud flyttar hemifrån... Yes Additional No Directorial debut
1992 Brev til Jonas Yes No No Cameo as "Director"; short film
1993 Family Matters Det bli'r i familien Yes No No
1995 Like It Never Was Before Pensionat Oskar Yes No No
1997 Credo Sekten Yes Yes No
1999 The One and Only Den eneste ene Yes Idea Executive
2000 Once in a Lifetime Livet är en schlager Yes No No
2002 Open Hearts Elsker dig for evigt Yes Yes No
2004 Brothers Brødre Yes Story No
2006 After the Wedding Efter brylluppet Yes Story No
2007 Things We Lost in the Fire Yes No No
2010 In a Better World Hævnen Yes Story No
2012 Love Is All You Need Den skaldede frisør Yes Story No
2014 A Second Chance En chance til Yes Story No
Serena Yes No Yes
2018 Bird Box Yes No Executive
2022 A ciegas No No Executive
2026 Practical Magic 2 Yes No No

Television

[edit]
Year Title Director Producer Story Editor Notes Ref.
1988 Fridtjof Nansens fodspor over Indlandsisen No No Yes Television documentary film
1993 Luischen Yes No No Television film
2016 The Night Manager Yes Yes No Miniseries (6 episodes)
2020 The Undoing Yes Yes No Miniseries (6 episodes)
2022 The First Lady Yes Yes No Miniseries (10 episodes) [45]
2024 The Perfect Couple Yes Yes No Miniseries (6 episodes) [46]

Music video

[edit]
Year Title Musician Notes Ref.
1989 Summer Rain Alphaville

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Freud's Leaving Home (Freud flytter hjemmefra...) (1991)
  • 1992 Angers European First Film Festival
    • Audience Award: Feature Film
    • C.I.C.A.E. Award
  • 1992 Creteil International Women's Film Festival
    • Grand Prix
  • 1992 Guldbagge Awards
    • Best Director (Nominated)[47]
  • 1991 Montréal World Film Festival
    • Montréal First Film Prize – Special Mention
Brev til Jonas (1992)
  • 1993 Robert Festival
    • Best Short/Documentary (Årets kort/dokumentarfilm)
Family Matters (Det bli'r i familien) (1994)
  • 1994 Rouen Nordic Film Festival
    • ACOR Award
    • Audience Award
Like It Never Was Before (Pensionat Oskar) (1995)
  • 1995 Montréal World Film Festival
    • FIPRESCI Prize: Official Competition
The One and Only (Den eneste ene) (1999)
  • 2000 Robert Festival
    • Best Film (Årets danske spillefilm)
  • 2000 Bodil Awards
    • Best Film (Bedste danske film)
Open Hearts (Elsker dig for evigt) (2002)
  • 2002 Toronto International Film Festival
    • International Critics' Award (FIPRESCI) – Special Mention
  • 2003 Bodil Awards
    • Best Film (Bedste danske film)
  • 2002 Lübeck Nordic Film Days
    • Baltic Film Prize for a Nordic Feature Film
  • 2003 Robert Festival
    • Audience Award
  • 2003 Rouen Nordic Film Festival
    • Press Award
Brothers (Brødre) (2004)
  • 2005 Boston Independent Film Festival
    • Audience Award: Narrative
  • 2005 Creteil International Women's Film Festival
    • Audience Award: Best Feature Film
  • 2004 Hamburg Film Festival
    • Critics Award
  • 2005 Skip City International D-Cinema Festival
    • Grand Prize
  • 2005 Sundance Film Festival
    • Audience Award: World Cinema – Dramatic
After the Wedding (Efter brylluppet) (2006)
  • 2007 Festroia International Film Festival
    • Jury Special Prize
  • 2006 Film by the Sea International Film Festival
    • Audience Award
  • 2006 Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival
    • Audience Award
In a Better World (Hævnen) (2010)
Love is All You Need (Den skaldede frisør) (2012)
  • 2013 Robert Festival
    • Audience Award: Comedy[48]
The Night Manager (2016)

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Susanne Bier

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Susanne Bier (born 15 April 1960) is a Danish film director, screenwriter, and producer whose work spans feature films and television series, frequently examining interpersonal dynamics, grief, and moral ambiguities within familial and societal contexts. After studying arts at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and architecture at the Architectural Association in London, Bier graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 1987, launching a career that bridged Dogme 95 influences with broader narrative explorations. Her breakthrough Danish films, such as Brothers (2004) and After the Wedding (2006), garnered international attention and an Academy Award nomination for the latter in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Transitioning to English-language projects, she directed Things We Lost in the Fire (2007) and achieved her pinnacle recognition with In a Better World (2010), which secured the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011, along with a Golden Globe. In television, Bier earned a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series for The Night Manager (2016), establishing her as the first female director to win an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Emmy, and European Film Award in tandem. Her oeuvre demonstrates versatility across genres, from intimate dramas to thrillers like Bird Box (2018), underscoring her influence in global storytelling.

Early Life and Background

Family Origins and Upbringing

Susanne Bier was born in , , in 1960 to a Jewish family with roots in and . Her father, Rudolf Salomon Baer (born 1930), emigrated from to as a child in 1933 to escape the rise of under . Her mother, Heni, was a Russian-born Jew whose family had faced pogroms and persecution in czarist . The couple met in after World War II but fled to during the Nazi occupation of in , when German forces began deporting Danish ; they returned to following Denmark's liberation in 1945. This history of displacement shaped Bier's early awareness of vulnerability and resilience, though she grew up in post-war amid relative stability. Bier's Jewish upbringing emphasized a strong familial bond and cultural continuity, counterbalanced by the transience embedded in her parents' experiences of flight from . She has described how her father's assimilation into Danish society after arriving as a influenced her perspective on identity and belonging, fostering an appreciation for understated emotional depth amid .

Education and Initial Influences

Bier initially pursued studies in religion before shifting to the arts, attending the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in . She later enrolled in architecture at the in , where her interest in and sets began to emerge. This foundation in visual and structural elements informed her early appreciation for how environments shape narrative, transitioning her focus from static design to dynamic storytelling. In 1987, Bier graduated from the National Film School of Denmark (Den Statske Filmskole) in , completing her diploma film Den søgende (The Seeker), which earned an award at the Munich International Festival of Film Schools. Her time at the school exposed her to the rigorous, collaborative Danish filmmaking environment of the , emphasizing practical training in directing, scripting, and production amid a burgeoning scene. This period marked her pivot from architecture's emphasis on form to film's integration of and human conflict, influenced by peers and instructors who prioritized authenticity over commercial polish. Bier's initial influences drew from this eclectic path, blending architectural precision with artistic exploration; she has noted that script-reading during set design work sparked her directorial ambitions, highlighting a causal link between visual craftsmanship and narrative drive. Early exposure to Denmark's minimalist aesthetic traditions, rather than overt cinematic idols, shaped her preference for restrained, character-focused realism, setting the stage for her departure from pure toward emotionally grounded films.

Professional Career

Debut and Early Danish Works (1980s–1990s)

Bier graduated from the National Film School of in 1987, after which she directed music videos and television commercials before transitioning to feature films. Her debut feature, Freud's Leaving Home (Freud flytter hjemmefra..., 1991), a Danish-Swedish co-production, centers on a Jewish family's internal conflicts amid preparations for , blending comedic elements with tragic undertones of loss and displacement. The film received nominations at the 1991 European Film Awards, including for Best Supporting Actress, signaling early recognition of her ability to handle emotionally layered narratives. In the mid-1990s, Bier continued exploring familial and identity themes in subsequent Danish productions. (Det bli'r i familien, 1993) follows a Swedish-Danish man's discovery of his and search for biological roots, framed as a quirky family that probes cultural hybridity and belonging. This was followed by Like It Never Was Before (Vacuumen er ikke til at betro sig til, 1995), a character-driven , and (1997), which delves into personal crises and relationships. These works established her reputation in Danish cinema for intimate, realist portrayals of interpersonal tensions, often involving transnational elements reflective of Scandinavian collaborations. Bier's early period culminated in The One and Only (Den eneste ene, 1999), a she co-wrote and directed, which achieved commercial success as Denmark's most-watched domestic film in two decades, drawing one-fifth of the population to theaters. It earned the Best Film award at the Danish , highlighting her versatility in shifting from dramatic introspection to lighter, audience-pleasing fare while maintaining focus on relational dynamics. These films collectively positioned Bier as a key figure in 1990s New Danish Cinema, emphasizing genre exploration beyond traditional comedies and engaging .

Breakthrough Films and International Acclaim (2000–2010)

Bier's breakthrough came with Open Hearts (2002), a Dogme 95-certified drama exploring the emotional fallout of a car accident on a couple's relationship, which earned praise for its raw realism and emotional depth, achieving a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 57 reviews. The film adhered to Dogme rules, including handheld cameras and natural lighting, amplifying its gritty authenticity and contributing to her rising domestic recognition in Denmark. In 2004, Brothers marked her international breakthrough, a psychological thriller depicting a soldier's psychological trauma from Afghanistan captivity and its impact on family dynamics, which received an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score from 72 critics for its tense exploration of ethics and war's repercussions. The film was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival and later remade in Hollywood by Jim Sheridan in 2009, underscoring its global appeal and Bier's ability to address universal themes of loyalty and betrayal through Danish perspectives. After the Wedding (2006) further elevated her profile, earning Denmark's nomination and a place among finalists for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, with nominations including the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film. The drama, centered on an director confronting past secrets at a wedding, was lauded for its family intrigue and emotional complexity, screening at Sundance where it won the Audience Award. Bier's first English-language feature, Things We Lost in the Fire (2007), starred and in a story of grief and addiction, representing her transition toward Hollywood but receiving mixed critical response. Culminating the decade, (2010) secured the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011—the first for a Danish director in that category—along with the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, highlighting themes of revenge, morality, and father-son bonds across and a Sudanese . The film's success, praised for its ideological contrasts and humanitarian focus, affirmed Bier's international stature, with a 77% rating from 119 reviews.

Transition to English-Language Projects and Television (2011–Present)

Following the Academy Award win for In a Better World on February 27, 2011, Bier shifted focus toward English-language productions, leveraging international recognition to helm projects in the United States, , and streaming platforms. Her debut in this phase was the romantic drama (released September 28, 2012), a Danish-British co-production starring and , which explored themes of loss and renewal amid a wedding in ; the film premiered at the on September 9, 2012, and received a 75% approval rating on based on 51 reviews. This marked Bier's initial foray into blending her Danish sensibility with Hollywood-adjacent talent, though it achieved modest returns of approximately $2.2 million worldwide. Bier continued with Serena (2014), a period drama set in 1920s , starring and as a timber empire couple facing personal and business turmoil; production began in 2012 but underwent extensive reshoots in 2013, contributing to delays until its March 21, 2015, U.S. release via . The film grossed $211,000 domestically against a $30 million budget, drawing criticism for narrative inconsistencies despite strong performances, as noted in reviews highlighting its atmospheric tension but uneven pacing. Transitioning to television, Bier directed all six episodes of the espionage thriller (aired February 21 to March 29, 2016, on and AMC), an adaptation of John le Carré's 1993 novel starring as a hotelier recruited to infiltrate an arms dealer (); the series earned her the 2016 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, making her the first woman to win in that category, alongside nine additional Emmys for the production. Subsequent works included the Netflix horror-thriller Bird Box (released December 21, 2018), starring Sandra Bullock as a mother navigating a post-apocalyptic world where unseen entities drive people to suicide; the film amassed 45 million U.S. accounts viewing within its first week, becoming Netflix's second-most-streamed original at the time, though critics divided on its execution with a 64% Rotten Tomatoes score from 252 reviews. In television, Bier directed the HBO miniseries The Undoing (premiered October 11, 2020), a psychological drama with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant centered on a murder unraveling an affluent New York family, which drew 4.52 million U.S. viewers for its finale despite pandemic-era delays. She followed with three episodes of Showtime's The First Lady (2022), focusing on U.S. presidential spouses, and directed the Netflix murder-mystery The Perfect Couple (released September 5, 2024), starring Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber in a wedding-gone-wrong narrative adapted from Elin Hilderbrand's novel. Bier has opted out of directing the second season of The Night Manager, announced in 2024 with returning stars but helmed by Georgi Banks-Davies, citing scheduling conflicts. Upcoming is her direction of Practical Magic 2 (scheduled for 2026), a sequel to the 1998 film reuniting Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.

Artistic Style and Themes

Directorial Techniques and Visual Style

Bier's directorial approach emphasizes emotional intimacy and psychological realism, often employing shots to capture micro-expressions and reveal characters' inner conflicts, as seen in her use of ocular focus in to convey unspoken truths. This technique aligns with her broader aesthetic of "eloquently messy" storytelling, where intimate camerawork penetrates personal turmoil amid larger conflicts, prioritizing subtle body language and one-on-one glances over overt exposition. Her early work, including (2002), drew from principles, utilizing handheld cinematography, natural lighting, and minimalistic production to foster authenticity, though she later critiqued the manifesto's rigid constraints in favor of flexible narrative service. In editing, Bier frequently deploys visual contrasts and abrupt jumps to mirror emotional disruptions rather than mere temporal shifts, maximizing analogies between scenes to heighten thematic resonance, as in the collision of domestic and ethical crises in A Second Chance (2014). This method breaks conventional cinematographic syntax, creating "visual trauma" that underscores causal links between personal choices and moral consequences. For thrillers like Bird Box (2018), she employs calculated visual omissions—deliberately withholding direct views of antagonistic entities—to amplify suspense through implication rather than spectacle, forcing viewer engagement with ambiguity. Collaborations with cinematographers such as shape her atmospheric palettes; in The Undoing (2020), they used vintage Leica Thambar lenses and tilt-shift effects to distort the privileged New York milieu, rendering a shadowy, off-kilter reality that reflects protagonists' psychological unraveling amid opulence. Such choices construct lush yet sinister worlds, blending real locations with manipulated focus to evoke unease, while maintaining naturalistic performances that ground melodramatic elements in observable . Across her oeuvre, this style serves causal realism, linking stylistic decisions directly to exploration of fractures and ethical dilemmas without artificial embellishment.

Recurring Motifs and Narrative Focus

Bier's films recurrently depict the family as a central yet fragile institution, where intimate bonds are tested by secrets, betrayals, and external pressures, often leading to emotional fragmentation and eventual reconciliation efforts. In works such as Brothers (2004) and In a Better World (2010), familial dynamics serve as the narrative core, illustrating how trauma—whether from war, loss, or moral dilemmas—disrupts parental roles and sibling loyalties, forcing characters to confront guilt and loyalty. This focus underscores a psychodynamic exploration of relationships, where absent or flawed parents symbolize broader relational voids. A prominent motif across her oeuvre is human resilience amid dignity-eroding crises, portraying individuals who navigate , , or ethical ambiguity without descending into . Inspired by personal encounters with illness and loss during her upbringing, Bier emphasizes characters' capacity for moral recovery, as seen in the dignified responses to death and relational rupture in films like After the Wedding (2006) and (2012). These narratives often hinge on "collisions"—sudden confrontations between personal ethics and uncontrollable events—that propel emotional arcs toward tentative restoration. Bier's storytelling frequently intertwines private anguish with public or societal forces, such as the ripple effects of conflict on domestic , highlighting male power dynamics and the tension between retribution and forgiveness. In (2016), this manifests through explorations of loyalty amid , mirroring earlier Danish dramas where war-induced trauma refracts into family strife. Her narratives prioritize affective depth over resolution, using ambiguity to probe how individuals parse "doing the right thing" in morally opaque worlds, often through close interpersonal reckonings rather than grand societal critiques.

Influences and Collaborations

Key Artistic Influences

Susanne Bier has cited her accidental viewing of at age eight as a formative cinematic experience that profoundly impacted her and ignited her passion for filmmaking, describing it as an event that "rocked her young world" and guided her career trajectory. This early encounter with the 1939 film, directed by , introduced her to the transformative power of visual and fantasy elements blended with emotional depth, elements that echo in her own works' exploration of personal turmoil amid broader narratives. Bier's stylistic development was significantly shaped by the movement, an avant-garde Danish film manifesto launched in 1995 by and , emphasizing raw realism through rules such as handheld cameras, natural lighting, and without props or effects. Although not among the original signatories, Bier adhered to these principles in her 2002 film (Elsker dig for evigt), her sole certified Dogme production, which intertwined the movement's austerity with her focus on intimate human relationships and moral dilemmas. This affiliation influenced her early Danish features by prioritizing authenticity over artifice, fostering a direct, unpolished aesthetic that contrasted with Hollywood conventions. Bier's affinity for Ingmar Bergman's oeuvre is evident in thematic parallels, such as explorations of familial dysfunction and existential , and was underscored by her 2010 commission to direct a four-part biographical on the Swedish director for Danish broadcaster , though the project did not materialize. Critics have noted Bergman's "underlying spirit" in Bier's frenetic pacing and psychological intensity, suggesting his influence on her evolution from Dogme toward more layered, emotionally charged dramas.

Notable Collaborators and Partnerships

Bier has maintained a longstanding creative partnership with Danish screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen, who has penned the scripts for several of her most acclaimed films, including Brothers (2004), After the Wedding (2006), In a Better World (2010), Love Is All You Need (2012), and A Second Chance (2014). This collaboration, spanning over a decade, has been characterized by Jensen's contributions to narratives exploring family dynamics, moral dilemmas, and emotional intensity, often co-developed from Bier's story ideas. Their joint work on In a Better World earned the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011, highlighting the synergy in blending Jensen's dark, character-driven scripts with Bier's empathetic directorial approach. In production, Bier has frequently partnered with Danish producer Sisse Graum Olsen, who served as producer on films such as and A Second Chance, facilitating Bier's transition from independent Danish cinema to broader international distribution. Similarly, Vibeke Windeløv has collaborated with Bier on multiple projects, including early works and contributing to the logistical and financial structuring of her features amid Denmark's state-supported film ecosystem. These producer relationships have been instrumental in securing funding from entities like the Danish Film Institute and enabling co-productions that amplified Bier's global reach. Among actors, Bier has repeatedly cast Danish performers like and , who appeared in Brothers, After the Wedding, and A Second Chance, fostering continuity in portraying complex paternal and relational roles. In her English-language television ventures, such as (2016), Bier collaborated closely with lead actors and , alongside screenwriter David Farr, adapting John le Carré's novel through iterative script refinements and on-set adjustments to heighten suspense and character depth. These partnerships underscore Bier's preference for trusted ensembles that align with her focus on authentic emotional performances over stylistic experimentation.

Reception and Impact

Critical Assessments and Achievements

Susanne Bier's directorial oeuvre has garnered acclaim for its unflinching portrayal of emotional turmoil within familial and societal contexts, often emphasizing themes of forgiveness, trauma, and moral ambiguity. Critics have highlighted her skill in eliciting authentic performances that underscore human vulnerability, as seen in her Danish-language films where intimate character studies intersect with global conflicts, such as in In a Better World (2010), which earned praise for balancing personal redemption arcs with ethical dilemmas rooted in real-world violence. This approach has been credited with elevating Dogme 95 influences into mature, audience-resonant narratives, evidenced by the International Critics' Award at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival for Open Hearts, recognizing her evolution beyond stylistic constraints. However, assessments of her stylistic tendencies reveal divisions, with some reviewers critiquing an inclination toward melodramatic excess that can undermine narrative restraint, particularly in handling post-traumatic stress—transforming profound psychological wounds into operatic territory, as in the original Brothers (2004). English-language transitions, such as Serena (2014), faced harsher scrutiny for tonal inconsistencies and production challenges, marking it as a critical disappointment despite its ambitious scope, while Bird Box (2018) drew mixed responses for prioritizing dramatic flourishes over genre coherence in its horror elements. Academic analyses, including those examining gendered framing and sacrificial motifs in her collaborations with screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen, underscore a consistent authorial signature of visual intimacy serving character insight, though occasionally at the expense of subtlety. Bier's achievements reflect this polarized yet impactful reception, culminating in historic milestones like her 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for , the first for a Danish director and part of a rare sweep including a Golden Globe, European Film Award, and later a Primetime Emmy for directing (2016), making her the inaugural female director to secure this quartet of honors. These accolades affirm her versatility across cinema and television, with critics noting her rebound from setbacks—such as Serena's underperformance—through high-profile successes like the visually opulent thrillers that define her "luxe" aesthetic in projects blending Scandinavian restraint with international polish. In 2021, the European Film Academy's lifetime achievement award further validated her influence, positioning her as a bridge between arthouse authenticity and mainstream appeal, though some discourse questions the sustainability of European auteurs in Hollywood's commercial pressures.

Awards and Industry Recognition

Susanne Bier has received numerous accolades for her directorial work, particularly in international cinema and television, establishing her as a prominent figure in contemporary filmmaking. Her 2010 film In a Better World marked a career pinnacle, earning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film on February 27, 2011, along with the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the European Film Award for Best Film. These achievements made Bier the first female director to win an Oscar, Golden Globe, and European Film Award in combination for the same film. In television, Bier's direction of the 2016 miniseries garnered the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special, awarded on September 18, 2016, highlighting her successful transition to English-language projects. Earlier, her 2006 film After the Wedding received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, underscoring her consistent recognition in the category. Bier has also been honored with the European Film Academy's European Director Award in 2011 and received an honorary Bodil Award in 2022 for her contributions to Danish cinema.
YearAwardCategory/Work
2011Academy AwardBest Foreign Language Film (In a Better World)
2011Golden GlobeBest Foreign Language Film (In a Better World)
2011European Film AwardBest Film (In a Better World)
2016Primetime EmmyOutstanding Directing for a Limited Series (The Night Manager)
2006Academy AwardNomination, Best Foreign Language Film (After the Wedding)

Criticisms and Professional Disputes

Bier has engaged in a notable public dispute with Danish director , characterized as largely one-sided with von Trier initiating provocations against her and her films. Von Trier has openly expressed distaste for Bier's work, referring to her derogatorily and critiquing her success as emblematic of a shift toward in Danish cinema. In a 2005 interview, von Trier launched a broader attack on the evolution of Danish film culture, implicitly targeting directors like Bier for prioritizing accessibility over principles. The feud escalated during the May press conference for von Trier's , where he made controversial statements sympathizing with and joked about his earlier self-identification as , adding, "then later on came and then suddenly I wasn't so happy about being a Jew," before qualifying, "I'm not against Jews, not even ." These remarks, part of a larger outburst leading to von Trier's declaration as by the festival, drew condemnation from Bier, who later described them as anti-Semitic and reflective of von Trier's provocative tendencies. Critics have occasionally faulted Bier's films for emotional excess and perceived manipulation, labeling her style as melodramatic despite her disavowal of the term. For example, reviews of After the Wedding (2006) highlighted its "huge emotions and... larger still" coincidences as hallmarks of melodrama, while A Second Chance (2014) has been accused of manipulative plotting to elicit audience sympathy. Her English-language projects, such as Serena (2014), faced harsher scrutiny for tonal inconsistencies and unusual developments, contributing to mixed-to-negative reception. Some observers have also criticized her casting choices in films like In a Better World (2010) as stunt-driven to appeal to international audiences. Bier has defended her approach as prioritizing emotional authenticity over restraint, arguing against shame in depicting "big emotions."

Personal Life and Views

Family and Private Life

Susanne Bier was first married to Danish-Icelandic film director Tómas Gislason, with whom she had a son, Gabriel Bier Gislason, born in 1989. She later married Swedish actor and director Philip Zandén on June 25, 1995, and they had a daughter, Alice Bier Zandén, born in 1995; Alice has pursued acting. Bier and Zandén divorced following the birth of their daughter. Bier has since married Danish Jesper Winge Leisner, whom she described in 2020 as her current husband; neither of her children's fathers is Leisner. Throughout her career, Bier has emphasized the centrality of family, stating in 2011 that it provides a "sense of belonging" amid professional demands, while balancing two marriages and raising and Alice. She has maintained a relatively private , with limited public details beyond these family relationships.

Ethical and Social Perspectives

Susanne Bier has emphasized that her filmmaking is primarily informed by ethical and moral questions rather than explicit political agendas, stating in a that she is "more driven by a sense of , a sense of , than ," though she acknowledges an interest in political matters but finds them "less translatable" to universal narratives. This approach manifests in her exploration of human frailty and interpersonal conflicts, as seen in films like (2010), where themes of , , and the fragility of civilized highlight moral ambiguities without overt partisanship. On social issues related to gender, Bier has critiqued persistent inequalities in the film industry, asserting in 2018 that progress toward gender equity has been "way, way, way too slow," with young female filmmakers facing disproportionate hurdles and even established directors like herself experiencing condescension. She has described her advocacy as "effortless feminism," focusing on practical barriers rather than ideological activism, and expressed skepticism about a singular "female perspective" in directing, viewing it as an individual rather than gendered trait. Bier positions herself as a filmmaker who prioritizes over confrontation, noting in 2015 that she is "not an activist" but seeks with dissenting views to challenge taboos, reflecting a commitment to nuanced ethical discourse amid societal divisions. Her work often underscores universal moral foundations, such as referencing the Ten Commandments in 2010 as underpinning Western societal norms, while critiquing Eurocentric assumptions in narratives involving global conflicts.

Comprehensive Works

Feature Films

Susanne Bier's feature films, primarily Danish-language until her expansion into English productions, frequently examine interpersonal conflicts within families, ethical quandaries, and the aftermath of trauma, often drawing from personal collaborations with screenwriter . Her early works established her in Scandinavian cinema, while later films achieved broader commercial and critical success, including an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Her debut, Freud Leaving Home (original Danish title: Freud flytter hjemmefra, 1991), follows a young Jewish man's humorous yet poignant adjustment to adult life after moving out of his overbearing mother's home, marking Bier's entry into feature directing with a runtime of 103 minutes. Family Matters (Sekst tre og et kvarter, 1993), a 98-minute family drama, centers on a middle-class Danish unraveling under financial strain and hidden secrets. In Like It Never Was Before (Ofte kædet, 1995), Bier directed a 108-minute exploration of a woman's obsessive quest to reclaim her former lover, blending romance with psychological tension. Credo (1997), running 90 minutes, depicts a student's descent into a cult-like group, probing themes of belief and manipulation. The One and Only (Den eneste ene, 1999), a 110-minute , tracks a woman's pursuit of monogamous bliss amid chaotic relationships, earning domestic box office success in . Once in a Lifetime (En kærlighedshistorie, 2000), at 98 minutes, portrays an elderly couple's late-life marital crisis triggered by rediscovered passions. Open Hearts (Elsker dig for evigt, 2002), a 113-minute Dogme 95-certified drama, unfolds after a car accident paralyzes a woman's fiancé, sparking an illicit affair that exposes raw emotional fractures; it received the International Critics' Prize at the and the Audience Award at the Danish Robert Festival. Brothers (Brødre, 2004), lasting 110 minutes, examines a presumed-dead soldier's return disrupting his brother's new family role, with themes of guilt and rivalry; it won the Audience Award at and was later remade in Hollywood. After the Wedding (Efter brylluppet, 2006), a 120-minute narrative of an director confronting his past via a donor's , garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Things We Lost in the Fire (2007), Bier's first English-language feature at 118 minutes, follows a widow () and her late husband's addict friend () navigating grief and codependency. In a Better World (Hævnen, 2010), 119 minutes in length, interweaves a Danish doctor's African experiences with schoolyard in , addressing vengeance and reconciliation; it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011, along with Best Director at the European Film Awards. Love Is All You Need (Den skaldede frisør, 2012), a 116-minute set at a wedding in , features and as mismatched in-laws finding unexpected connection; it secured the European Film Award for Best Comedy. Serena (2014), running 95 minutes, stars and as ambitious timber magnates in 1920s whose empire crumbles under personal demons. A Second Chance (En chance til, 2014), at 103 minutes, involves a couple ( and ) weighing against saving their own child from neglect. Bird Box (2018), a 124-minute post-apocalyptic thriller for , depicts Sandra Bullock's character shielding her children from sight-inducing suicidal entities, becoming one of the platform's most-viewed original films with over 89 million accounts streaming it in its first four weeks.

Television Directing Credits

Bier directed all six episodes of the 2016 British-American espionage miniseries , an of John le Carré's novel starring and , which aired on AMC in the United States and in the . Her work earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special. In 2020, she helmed the entire six-episode limited series , a written by and starring and , centered on a investigation amid marital unraveling. The series marked 's first original production to increase its viewership week-over-week. Bier directed all ten episodes of the 2022 Showtime anthology series The First Lady, which chronicles the lives of U.S. First Ladies , , and , portrayed by , , and , respectively. The production spanned historical recreations and contemporary narratives, drawing on biographical sources for its episodic structure. Her most recent television project as of 2024 is directing all six episodes of Netflix's The Perfect Couple, a murder-mystery limited series adapted from Elin Hilderbrand's novel, featuring alongside an ensemble cast including and . The series explores family secrets and deception during a wedding weekend, reuniting Bier with Kidman from .
YearTitleNetworkEpisodes Directed
2016The Night ManagerAMC/BBC OneAll 6
2020The UndoingHBOAll 6
2022The First LadyShowtimeAll 10
2024The Perfect CoupleNetflixAll 6

Other Contributions (Music Videos and Shorts)

Bier directed the music video for the song "Summer Rain" by the German band Alphaville, released in 1989 as part of the album . The video, produced by Peter Aalbak Jensen and edited by Jacob Thuesen, consists of a sequence of black-and-white photographs that evoke the melancholic tone of the track, starring actor Mikael Bertelsen. This work formed part of the Songlines project, a compilation of nine short films each inspired by a song from the album, directed by various filmmakers including Bier. Records indicate this as Bier's sole credited music video direction. While early career references note her involvement in shorts prior to feature films like Freud's Leaving Home (1991), specific titles beyond the Summer Rain contribution remain undocumented in available film databases.

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  74. https://blogs.sydneysbuzz.com/miamiff-review-susanne-biers-a-second-chance-follows-a-father-battling-despair-with-drastic-measures-c2d1bafe7f47
  75. https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/76tezo/the_terrible_curse_of_the_successful_european/
  76. https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2013/apr/14/susanne-bier-love-all-you-need
  77. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/susanne-bier.html
  78. https://www.popmatters.com/146848-in-a-better-world-2495961871.html
  79. https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/director-susanne-bier-on-gender-equality-in-the-film-industry/276737076373298/
  80. https://www.vulture.com/2016/04/director-susanne-bier-on-women-in-hollywood.html
  81. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306422015622923
  82. https://www.dfi.dk/en/english/its-never-just-black-and-white
  83. https://cinemascandinavia.wordpress.com/articles/issue-4-landscape/eurocentralism-and-moral-issues-in-the-work-of-susanne-bier/
  84. https://www.imdb.com/list/ls025609438/
  85. https://letterboxd.com/director/susanne-bier/
  86. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/suzanne_bier
  87. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457655/
  88. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340107/
  89. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/movies/in-a-better-world-directed-by-susanne-bier-review.html
  90. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/midyear-awards-report-sony-pictures-358473/
  91. https://variety.com/2012/film/awards/financial-sense-yields-solid-results-1118053320/
  92. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/a-second-chance-en-chance-730737/
  93. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2737304/
  94. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4940548/
  95. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8651520/
  96. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/04/awards-insider-susanne-bier-directing-the-first-lady
  97. https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/the-perfect-couple-director-susanne-bier-netflix-1236127929/
  98. https://deadline.com/2024/09/the-perfect-couple-director-susanne-bier-interview-1236080519/
  99. https://imvdb.com/video/alphaville/summer-rain
  100. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8222198/
  101. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289462/
  102. https://imvdb.com/n/susanne-bier/videography-by-position
  103. https://kids.kiddle.co/Susanne_Bier
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