---
name: "Susanne Bier"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/susanne-bier"
fi1m_id: "susanne-bier"
imdb_id: "nm0081540"
tmdb_id: 1011
wikidata_id: "Q236148"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "15 April 1960"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 61
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-24T10:53:44.677412+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Susanne Bier

## Identity

Susanne Bier

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/susanne-bier
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** susanne-bier
- **IMDb ID:** nm0081540
- **TMDB ID:** 1011
- **Wikidata ID:** Q236148
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanne_Bier, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q236148, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0081540/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1011

Director and producer. Born 15 April 1960 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 15 April 1960, Copenhagen, Denmark
- **Active:** 2009–present
- **Frequently works with:** [Nicole Kidman](https://film.one/person/nicole-kidman.md), [Sandra Bullock](https://film.one/person/sandra-bullock.md)
- **Golden Globes:** 1 Golden Globe (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 61, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 67 (2), 2020s 54 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 61 to 61 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 2 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Crime 2, Mystery 2, Comedy 1, Fantasy 1, Horror 1
- **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $46m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanne_Bier, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q236148, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0081540/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1011

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Night Manager*](https://film.one/tv/the-night-manager.md) (81)
- **HBO Max:** [*The Undoing*](https://film.one/tv/the-undoing.md) (61)
- **Netflix:** [*Bird Box*](https://film.one/film/bird-box.md) (53)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Susanne Bier

> Susanne Bier gives actors time to show what their characters are trying to conceal. We rate her for the performances and suspense, though her plotting can be easier to anticipate than we would like.

Tom Hiddleston's Jonathan Pine keeps his reactions private in *The Night Manager* (2016), and Susanne Bier gives us time to notice the effort. We enjoyed watching him and Hugh Laurie assess one another because she makes their guarded responses worth attending to. This is assured, pleasurable spy television, and it shows how well she can direct actors without encouraging them to advertise every thought. The familiar plotting is a limitation, but it does not spoil the evening.

Her Danish films reached a broad audience with the romantic comedy *The One and Only* (1999), before the Dogme film *Open Hearts* (2002) brought international attention. *After the Wedding* (2006) and *In a Better World* (2010) continued her interest in family ties and difficult moral choices. Faces and eyes matter in this cinema because they show what those choices cost. Her recurring collaborators include writer Anders Thomas Jensen and cinematographer Morten Søborg. She keeps coming back to families whose ordinary lives have been abruptly overturned.

In *The Night Manager*, David Farr's adaptation of John le Carré gives her clever people to set against one another. Michael Snyman's cinematography makes Roper's surroundings inviting, while Tom Burton's production design gives his wealth the comfort of long familiarity. Bier lets us enjoy looking at it. That matters: Roper's life has to look desirable if the ease with which people tolerate him is to be convincing. She also keeps the actors' watchfulness legible within those rooms, rather than allowing the furnishings to become the main attraction.

Her English-language films have been less dependable, with *Serena* (2014) troubled by implausibility and uneven tone. *The Night Manager* marked a more successful turn towards television, while *Bird Box* (2018) carried her interest in psychological suspense into a mainstream thriller. The recurring risk is that her plots can seem too carefully arranged, so we notice the next complication being prepared. Even *The Night Manager* makes less of its moral complications than we would like. Start there for Hiddleston and Laurie, rather than for any great surprise in the spy machinery.

## Biography

Susanne Bier is a Danish film and television director. She was born on 15 April 1960 in Copenhagen.

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

On television, Bier directed the miniseries *The Night Manager* (2016), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special. She later directed *The Undoing* (2020), *The First Lady* (2022) and *The Perfect Couple* (2024).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, variety.com, deadline.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Practical Magic 2* (2026), Fi1m 48, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/practical-magic-2.md)
- *The Undoing* (2020), Fi1m 61, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-undoing.md)
- *Bird Box* (2018), Fi1m 53, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/bird-box.md)
- *The Night Manager* (2016), Fi1m 81, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-night-manager.md)

## Complete filmography (29)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Practical Magic 2* (2026), Director — Fi1m 48, [page](https://film.one/film/practical-magic-2.md)
- *The Perfect Couple* (2024), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Bird Box Barcelona* (2023), Executive Producer
- *The First Lady* (2022), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *The Undoing* (2020), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-undoing.md)
- *The Idiots Who Started The Party* (2020), as Sig selv
- *After the Wedding* (2019), Original Film Writer
- *Bird Box* (2018), Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 53, [page](https://film.one/film/bird-box.md)
- *The Night Manager* (2016), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-night-manager.md)
- *A Second Chance* (2015), Director, Story
- *Serena* (2014), Director, Producer
- *Love Is All You Need* (2012), Director, Story
- *In a Better World* (2010), Director, Story
- *Brothers* (2009), Writer
- *Things We Lost in the Fire* (2007), Director
- *After the Wedding* (2006), Director, Story
- *Brothers* (2004), Director, Writer
- *The One and Only* (2002), Executive Producer
- *Open Hearts* (2002), Director
- *Once in a Lifetime* (2000), Director
- *The One and Only* (1999), Director, Idea
- *Credo* (1997), Director, Screenplay
- *Like It Never Was Before* (1995), Director
- *Family Matters* (1993), Director
- *Letter to Jonas* (1992), Director
- *Freud Leaving Home* (1991), Director
- *Notes on Love* (1989), as Additional Writing
- *The Trial of Louise Woodward*, series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Legacy of Spies*, series, Executive Producer

## Gallery

- ![Members of the International Competition Jury at Opening Ceremony of the 28th Tokyo International Film Festival (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/22940/gallery-a14bfede30c2.jpg) Members of the International Competition Jury at Opening Ceremony of the 28th Tokyo International Film Festival (2015) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Members_of_the_International_Competition_Jury_at_Opening_Ceremony_of_the_28th_Tokyo_International_Film_Festival_%2822453160335%29.jpg/1280px-Members_of_the_International_Competition_Jury_at_Opening_Ceremony_of_the_28th_Tokyo_International_Film_Festival_%2822453160335%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Susanne Bier at the 2011 Miami International Film Festival Career Achievement Tribute Dinner for her](https://film.one/media/person/22940/gallery-38761745e7f0.jpg) Susanne Bier at the 2011 Miami International Film Festival Career Achievement Tribute Dinner for her — MiamiFilmFestival, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Susanne_Bier.jpg/1280px-Susanne_Bier.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Director Susanne Bier (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/22940/gallery-bb8bb4adce43.jpg) Director Susanne Bier (2011) — Les Kaner, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Susanne_Bier_2011.jpg/1280px-Susanne_Bier_2011.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Susanne Bier](https://film.one/media/person/22940/gallery-dd039a25f827.jpg) Susanne Bier — Les Kaner, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Susanne_Bier_2011_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Susanne_Bier_2011_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Susanne Bier](https://film.one/media/person/22940/gallery-627d8c877027.jpg) Susanne Bier — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Golden Globes — 1 won

- 2010: Best Non-English Language Film (won)

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 2016: Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special (won), for *The Night Manager*

### Other awards — 7 won, 6 nominated

- Bodil Honorary Award 2022: Bodil Honorary Award (won)
- European Film Academy Achievement in World Cinema Award 2021: European Film Academy Achievement in World Cinema Award (won)
- European Film Award for Best Comedy 2013: European Film Award for Best Comedy (won), for *Love Is All You Need*
- European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film 2013: European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film (nominated), for *Love Is All You Need*
- Honorary craftsman 2013: Honorary craftsman (won)
- European Film Award for Best Director 2011: European Film Award for Best Director (won), for *In a Better World*
- European Film Award for Best Film 2011: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated), for *In a Better World*
- European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film 2011: European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film (nominated), for *In a Better World*
- Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog 2010: Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog (won)
- European Film Award for Best Director 2006: European Film Award for Best Director (nominated), for *After the Wedding*
- European Film Award for Best Director 2005: European Film Award for Best Director (nominated), for *Brothers*
- European Film Award for Best Film 2005: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated), for *Brothers*
- The Carl Theodor Dreyer Prize 1992: The Carl Theodor Dreyer Prize (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/susanne-bier