Stefanie Brockhaus is an award-winning German director and producer. Her work focuses on social and environmental issues, with a special emphasis on innovative ways of combining cinema, science and art.
Brockhaus was born in Germany in 1974 and grew up in Berlin and Freiburg. She studied sociology, cultural studies and media at the University of Freiburg and the Humboldt University of Berlin. After graduating, she worked as a researcher and assistant director for several documentary films, which allowed her to explore her interest in the intersection of science, cinema, and art.
In 2004, Brockhaus directed her first feature-length documentary, “Traffic”, which was nominated for the German Film Award and won the Golden Dove at the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film. The film examined the global trade in endangered species and the environmental and social impact of the illegal wildlife trade.
In 2008, Brockhaus was awarded the German Documentary Film Prize for her work on “The Whale Hunt”, a film about the traditional whale hunting culture of Chukotka in Russia. The film was also nominated for the German Film Award and was selected for the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival.
Brockhaus’s most recent film, “The Great Dance”, was released in 2014 and was nominated for multiple awards, including the German Film Award, the European Film Award, and the Montréal International Documentary Festival Award. The film follows the lives of three Maasai dancers from Kenya and Tanzania and explores the traditional culture of the Maasai people in the face of modernity and globalization.
In addition to her feature films, Brockhaus has also directed several short films, and has taught film production and digital media at the University of the Arts in Berlin. She is also a member of the board of trustees at the German Documentary Film Institute.
Brockhaus’s work has been praised for its innovative approach to documentary filmmaking, combining art and science in a unique and compelling way. Her films are thought-provoking and inspiring, and have earned her numerous awards and accolades.
