Stefan Schaefer
{{short description|American film writer and director (born 1971)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{BLP sources|date=February 2024}}
{{COI|date=February 2024}}
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{{Infobox person
| image = StefanSchaefer 2015.jpg
| caption = Schaefer in 2015
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|08|17}}
| birth_place = Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
| occupation = {{hlist|Writer|director|producer}}
| education = Wesleyan University (BA)
Kiel University (Fulbright Scholar)
| spouse = Chenta Laury
| children = 2
}}
Stefan Schaefer (born August 17, 1971) is an American filmmaker and entrepreneur. He works as a screenwriter and director for films that have been screened at festivals such as South by Southwest and the Berlin International Film Festival.
Biography
=Early life and education =
Schaefer was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was raised in Sussex during his early childhood, and later lived in both Michigan and New York. He studied theatre and political theory at Wesleyan University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. After completing his undergraduate studies, he spent a year and a half in Germany as a Fulbright scholar at Kiel University. After returning to New York City, he co-founded the production company Cicala Filmworks.{{Cite web |title=Stefan Schaefer - notes |url=https://pages.ziisnotes.com/index.php/Stefan_Schaefer |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=pages.ziisnotes.com}}
He is the maternal grandson of Carl R. Eklund, a polar explorer and ornithologist.{{Cite web |title=Eklund's Antarctic |url=https://www.karinschaefer.com/series/carl-eklunds-antarcticphotographs-1939-1941/ |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=www.karinschaefer.com}}{{Cite web |title=Carl Eklund |url=https://usas1939.org/carl.eklund/ |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=usas1939.org}}
Career
Schaefer's films have been screened at festivals such as the Berlin International Film Festival and South by Southwest (SXSW).{{Cite news |last=Ankrum |first=Nora |date=March 9, 2007 |title=Looking More Closely When Others Look Away |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2007-03-09/453512/ |access-date=2024-12-20 |newspaper=Austin Chronicle |language=en-US}} His work has been made available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO, PBS, and Sundance Channel.{{Cite web |title=Stefan C. Schaefer |url=https://mubi.com/en/cast/stefan-c-schaefer |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=MUBI |language=en}}
With writer Chris Silber,{{cite news |last1=Rotterdam Film Festival |title=The Hungry Ghosts |url=https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2009/films/the-hungry-ghosts}} Schaefer has co-written television films for the European networks ARD and ZDF, including two productions filmed in Hawaii.{{cite news |last1=Die Stimme Berlins |title=Blauwasserleben: Wie eine Traumreise zum Albtraum wurde |url=https://www.bz-berlin.de/archiv-artikel/blauwasserleben-wie-eine-traumreise-zum-albtraum-wurde}}
Schaefer directed the documentary, Contested Streets,{{Citation |last=Schaefer |first=Stefan C. |title=Contested Streets |date=2006-06-27 |type=Documentary |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0867147/ |access-date=2024-10-15 |others=Majora Carter, Kenneth Jackson, Robert R. Kiley |publisher=Cicala Filmworks}} which compared the use of public space and streets in New York City with London, Paris, and Copenhagen. The film was shown at environmental film festivals and aired on Sundance TV as part of The Green series.{{cite news |title=Sundance Channel Does Transportation |url=https://sustainablog.org/articles/sundance-does-transportation-cars-bikes-trains-and-more/ |work=Sustainablog}} He also directed a documentary on W.S. Merwin, Even Though the Whole World Is Burning.{{cite news |last1=Huffington Post |title=Watching the World Burn with Merwin |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-poet-gracefully-reveale_b_5434491}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable"
|+Television !Year !Title !Credit |
| 2009
|Co-creator/producer/actor |
| 2012
|First Lady / Nicht mit mir, Liebling{{Citation |last=Nennstiel |first=Thomas |title=Nicht mit mir, Liebling |date=2012-03-23 |type=Comedy |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1715767/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |others=Ursula Karven, Hans Werner Meyer, Henning Baum |publisher=ARD Degeto Film, teamWorx Television & Film}} | rowspan="4" |Writer |
| rowspan="2" |2013
|The Paradise Within / Das Paradies in uns |
| To Love, Let Go / Wer liebt, lässt los |
| 2015
|{{Ill|Bluewater: Nightmare in Paradise|de|Blauwasserleben}} / Blauwasserleben |
| rowspan="2" |2016
|Director/Writer/Producer |
| W.S. Merwin: To Plant a Tree
|Director/Writer/Producer |
| 2018
|I Am Because You Are |Director/Writer/Producer |
Awards and nominations
- 2002 – New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Screenwriting{{Cite web |title=NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS Directory of Artists' Fellows & Finalists |url=https://www.nyfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/FellowsDirectory.pdf#page=47}}
- 2003 – Berlin Talents, Berlin International Film Festival{{Cite web |title=Berlinale Talents - Stefan Schaefer |url=https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt//talent/stefan-schaefer/profile |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Berlinale Talents |language=en}}
- 2004 – Grand Prize in Digital Filmmaking from Apple and Panasonic{{Cite web |date=2004-12-07 |title=Panasonic Professional Video Products - Press Release |url=http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/news/news04_018.asp#expand |access-date=2025-02-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041207115357/http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/news/news04_018.asp#expand |archive-date=7 December 2004 }}
- 2005 – Scribe Prize Hamptons International Film Festival, Confess{{Cite web |last=Scheib |first=Ronnie |date=2005-11-08 |title=Confess |url=https://variety.com/2005/film/reviews/confess-1200520448/ |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}
- 2007 – Berkshire International Film Festival: Audience Award Arranged{{Cite web |last=Johans |first=Jen |title=Arranged (2007) |url=https://reviews.filmintuition.com/2008/05/arranged.html |access-date=2025-03-09}}
- 2007 – Brooklyn Film Festival: Best Film, Best Narrative Feature Film, Arranged{{Cite web |last=mattdentler |date=2007-08-31 |title=Emerging Visions Class of 2007: Stefan Schaefer ('Arranged') |url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/general/emerging-visions-class-of-2007-stefan-schaefer-arranged-221597/ |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}
- 2008 – Skip City International Film Festival:{{Cite web |title=SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL 2024 |url=https://www.skipcity-dcf.jp/en/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=www.skipcity-dcf.jp |language=en}} Grand Prize, $100,000 award for Best Film Arranged{{cite news |last1=Skip City |title=Results |url=http://www.skipcity-dcf.jp/2009/en/archive/prize/}}
- 2012 – Black Reel Awards: Best Original Song My Last Day Without You (nominated){{Cite web |last=Morales |first=Wilson |date=2011-12-14 |title=Pariah Lead Black Reel Awards Field |url=https://www.blackfilm.com/read/12th-annual-black-reel-awards-nominations/ |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=blackfilm.com |language=en-US}}
- 2018 – Writer-in-Residence, Can Cab Literary Residence{{Cite web |title=Residents |url=https://www.cancabresidence.com/residents |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Can Cab |language=en-US}}
- 2020 – Hawaii International Film Festival: Made-in Hawaii Best Feature Aloha Surf Hotel (nominated){{Cite web |title=HIFF40 {{!}} HIFF {{!}} Hawai'i International Film Festival |url=https://hiff.org/category/hiff40/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |language=en-US}}
- 2021 – Hawaii Film Critics Society: Best Hawaii Feature Film Aloha Surf Hotel (nominated) {{Cite web |date=2020-11-29 |title=Aloha Surf Hotel {{!}} |url=http://hifilmcriticssociety.org/aloha-surf-hotel |access-date=2025-01-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129041222/http://hifilmcriticssociety.org/aloha-surf-hotel |archive-date=29 November 2020 }}
- 2022 – Individual Artist Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts{{cite news |last1=SFCA grantee spotlight |title=Viral |url=https://sfca.hawaii.gov/sfca-grantee-spotlight-short-film-by-maui-teens-world-premiere-at-film-festival/}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.stefancschaefer.com}}
- {{IMDb name|1516290}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaefer, Stefan}}
Category:Screenwriters from Massachusetts
Category:Film directors from Massachusetts
Category:Wesleyan University alumni