Ursula Meier on English-Language Debut ‘Quiet Land,’ and How Gillian Anderson Inspired Her to Tell an ‘American Story’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Swiss French director Ursula Meier is set to make her English-language debut with "Quiet Land," a detective story and romantic drama set in Montana, which she will present at the Venice Gap-Financing Market from 4-6 September. The project marks a significant step for the acclaimed filmmaker, whose previous work includes the Silver Bear-winning "Sister" and Golden Bear contender "The Line," as she transposes a European sensibility onto American soil for the first time.
The film follows Connor McCluskey, a Montana Highway Patrolman in his early seventies who is dismissed from the force after a medical evaluation but continues investigating two puzzling fatal car crashes alone, aided by concern for a local landowner who may face similar danger. Meier drew inspiration from Swiss police photographer Arnold Odermatt's decades of black-and-white crash photography, while crediting her earlier collaboration with Gillian Anderson and Martin Compston on "Sister" for cementing her desire to work with English-speaking actors and tell a story on American soil.
- Ursula Meier's English-language debut "Quiet Land" heads to Venice financing market
- Montana-set detective drama inspired by Swiss crash photographer Arnold Odermatt
- Gillian Anderson's earlier collaboration spurred Meier's wish to work in America
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Quiet Land is a new film from Swiss French director Ursula Meier, best known for European art-house dramas such as Sister and The Line. It marks her first time working in the English language and setting a story in America, a departure from her usual territory. The film is being introduced to potential financiers and buyers at the Venice Gap-Financing Market, an industry event running from 4 to 6 September where projects still seeking funding are pitched.
The story is set in Montana and centres on Connor McCluskey, an ageing highway patrolman forced out of his job on medical grounds who carries on investigating two unexplained fatal car crashes by himself. It combines elements of a detective mystery with a romantic drama, and draws visual inspiration from a Swiss police photographer's archive of crash-scene photography. Meier has said her decision to make an American story in English was shaped by working with actors Gillian Anderson and Martin Compston on Sister.
The development matters because it represents a notable shift for a filmmaker established in European cinema, moving into English-language, American-set storytelling for the first time. Gap-financing markets like Venice's are where projects secure the remaining money needed to go into production, so this stage is typically about building industry and financial support rather than the film being finished or released.