Tamara Jenkins
Visiting Filmmaker
Till Schauder
Founding Faculty
Profile
Till Schauder is a Brooklyn-based writer, director, and cinematographer. His films have premiered at major film festivals around the world including Tribeca, Berlin, and Tokyo, and are funded through grants, partnerships and co-productions with organizations like the Sundance Documentary Institute, Fork Films, The Catapult Film Fund, The Jerome Foundation, NYSCA, Film und Medienstiftung NRW, FFA/German Federal Film Board, ITVS, ARD, ZDF, ARTE and many others.
Schauder began his filmmaking journey in his native Germany as the writer and director of the award-winning short film CITY BOMBER and his debut feature STRONG SHIT, for which he won the Max Ophuels Film Festival’s Reader’s Award. He relocated to New York after receiving a DAAD scholarship for exceptional visual artists.
Schauder’s US narrative feature debut SANTA SMOKES which he wrote, co-directed and starred in, won several international awards, among them Best Director at the Tokyo International Film Festival. In 2012, Schauder completed his critically acclaimed first documentary THE IRAN JOB, which was released worldwide, mentioned as an Oscar contender, and shortlisted for a German Academy Award in 2014.
His 2017 documentary WHEN GOD SLEEPS premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, won “Most Valuable Documentary of the Year” from Cinema for Peace during Berlinale, and the “Golden Heynal Award” at the Krakow International Film Festival along with other international recognitions. WHEN GOD SLEEPS opened theatrically in Germany and Japan, had its US broadcast premiere on Independent Lens in 2018, and will be released on Amazon. Schauder also recently completed WARRIORS OF FAITH (GLAUBENSKRIEGER), a feature documentary about Iraqi refugees in Germany combating ISIS through performance arts, for which he won a German Emmy and the “ARD Top of the Docs” Award. The film was also a nominee for the Prix Europa. Schauder’s latest film REGGAE BOYZ, which was called “one of the funniest and most entertaining documentaries to come out in years” by film-rezensionen.de, is currently in theaters in Germany and will be released in the US in 2018.
In addition to teaching at VCFA, Schauder teaches film at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and is a frequent guest speaker at other film schools.
Schauder has a side career in acting. He appeared with Kate Winslet in the HBO Series “Mildred Pierce” and in Martin Scorsese’s HBO Series “Vinyl.” His production company Partner Pictures, which he runs with his producing partner and wife Sara Nodjoumi, is based in Brooklyn.