Biography.guide
Home › People › Film director › Xavier Koller
Portrait of Xavier Koller

Xavier Koller

b. 1944

Swiss film director (born 1944)

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Xavier Koller

Born 1944. Xavier Koller is a Swiss film director, screenwriter and director.

Xavier Koller (born 17 June 1944, Schwyz, Switzerland) is a Swiss film director and screenwriter. He is most known for his work on the Disney live action film Squanto: A Warrior's Tale, an adventure historical fiction film based on the life of Squanto, and his film Journey of Hope, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1990.

Early life After graduating from high school, Koller first went through a four-year apprenticeship as a precision toolmaker and then, after three years of training at the Academy of Drama in Zurich, Switzerland, graduated as an actor/director. The next several years he spent acting and directing at German and Swiss theatres. He did a number of TV-plays as an actor, directed commercials, acted in movies, and then started to write and direct feature films.

Film career

Awards and accolades

Filmography Hannibal (1972) (director, screenplay) Mädchen, die am Wege liegen (1976) (director: additional scenes) Trilogie 1848: Der Galgensteiger (1979) (director, writer) (TV film) The Frozen Heart (Das gefrorene Herz) (1979) (director, screenplay) Tanner (Der schwarze Tanner) (1985) (director, writer) Journey of Hope (Reise der Hoffnung) (1990) (director, writer) Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994) (director) Gripsholm (2000) (director) Cowboy Up (2001) (director) (2002) (director, writer) (short film) (2006) (director) (TV film) (2012) (director, writer) (2013) (director) (2015) (director, writer)

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
Zurich University of the Arts, Academy of Drama, Zurich, Switzerland

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Xavier Koller's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Xavier Koller?

Swiss film director (born 1944)

When was Xavier Koller born?

Xavier Koller was born on 17 June 1944 in Schwyz.

What is Xavier Koller's occupation?

Xavier Koller is a film director, screenwriter and director.

What nationality is Xavier Koller?

Xavier Koller is Swiss.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Xavier Koller

· Wikidata: Q594382

· DBpedia: Xavier Koller

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Xavier Koller. https://biography.guide/xavier-koller/

MLA: "Xavier Koller." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/xavier-koller/.

Chicago: "Xavier Koller." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/xavier-koller/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-23 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons · author & licence

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:05 UTC