Anna Pieri Zuercher

Born

1979-01-01

Birthplace

Biel/Bienne, Switzerland Switzerland

Biography

Born in the city of Biel/Bienne (Switzerland), Anna Pieri Zuercher grew up in a multicultural family with an Italian mother and a Swiss-German father. As an award-winning actress and filmmaker, she works across film, television, theater, and directing. Fluent in French, Italian, German, and English, she performs internationally and moves seamlessly between languages and artistic disciplines. Alongside her acting career, Anna has developed a distinctive voice as a filmmaker. Her short film Cherubs, co-directed with Pietro Zuercher, premiered at several major international festivals including the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Shorts (PÖFF Shorts), Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) and the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF). The film won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in Los Angeles, as well as Best First-Time Filmmaker Short and Best Production Design at the Hollywood Shortsfest, and was nominated for Best Short Film at the Swiss Film Awards 2026. She is currently developing her first feature film, Grave, a dark comedy produced by Turnus Film and Cinédokké in co-production with Finland and Estonia. Shooting is scheduled for early 2027. In 2019, Anna Pieri Zuercher won the Swissperform Award for Best Lead Actress for her role as Nina Favre in Double Vie, directed by Bruno Deville. Among her screen credits are Hors-Saison, a Franco-Swiss co-production directed by Pierre Monnard, alongside Marina Hands and Sofiane Zermani; Last Dance, directed by Delphine Lehericey, opposite François Berléand; Alter Ego alongside Gian Marco Tognazzi; and Station Horizon, directed by Pierre-Adrian Irlé and Romain Graf. Since 2019, Anna has been shooting the TV show Tatort, in which she plays the protagonist role of investigator Isabelle Grandjean. This is the oldest and most popular crime drama TV series currently broadcast in German- speaking countries. It is watched every week by around 7 million people. She also recently appeared in the TV series Uniformes directed by Romain Graf and Könige der Nacht, directed by Claudio Fäh. She is currently shooting True Scary Tales, directed by Torsten C. Fischer.