Nicolas Steiner

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Nicolas Steiner wins CH Film Prize 2016, @Schweizer Filmakademie

Nicolas Steiner (* 1984 in Sion , Wallis) is a Swiss film director , screenwriter and film producer . In 2016 he was awarded the German Film Prize (Lola) twice and the Swiss Film Prize (Quartz) three times for his diploma film Above and Below .

Life

Nicolas Steiner at the Max Ophüls Film Festival 2015

Nicolas Steiner grew up in the Valais in the 1200-strong village of Turtmann - Unterems . He went to school in the College of Spiritus Sanctus in Brig, where he obtained the high school diploma . During his studies he also worked as a gravedigger, played as a drummer in various local music groups and completed his military service as a drummer / percussionist in military music .

He practiced his first activity in the film sector as an actor (Recruit Schlönz) in the Swiss RS comedy Achtung, steady , Charlie! from, one of the most successful Swiss films. Although he also acted in a few other Swiss films, he made a conscious decision to work behind the camera. He said several times in interviews that he was not a trained and gifted actor, but that this was a great opportunity to get to know the film business.

In 2005/06 he attended the European Film College in Ebeltoft (Denmark) and then studied ethnology and film studies at the University of Zurich for a year . From 2007 he learned to direct at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy in Ludwigsburg and completed his directing studies with the film Above and Below .

In 2010 he received the prestigious FULBRIGHT scholarship and studied for a year at the San Francisco Art Institute , where he was primarily dedicated to analog photography and developing board games .

In 2014 he was artist in residence for the Canton of Valais at the Toy Factory in Brooklyn , New York City.

Regarding the influence of his homeland, the Valais, in which many of his films are set, Steiner said: “I am a Valais director through and through who loves his roots. And yet, the Valais as a place is frighteningly beautiful. Charming and yet so dangerously blazing in pretty, deceptive postcard idylls. There are cows. Puffs too. [...] The steep mountains protect, but also draw a clear dividing line. You isolate. They proudly wave at you if they don't frighten you. The Valais has shaped me and will continue to do so. I'm happy for that."

Nicolas Steiner has been a member of the European Film Academy as well as the Swiss Film Academy since 2016 . He teaches master classes or seminars in Switzerland, Germany, Holland and above all in the USA. He was a member of the jury at various film festivals such as Locarno, Kansk (Sibiria) and the Dresden Short Film Festival.

In September 2016 he received the RÜNZI Prize 2016. The prize has been awarded annually to a Valais personality since 1972 and is presented by the respective President of the Council of State.

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His diploma film from the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy, Above and Below , portrays five very different "survivors" who live beyond the structures of everyday life. The film shows April, a member of the Mars Desert Research Station in Hanksville , Utah. Research is conducted there into how human life should function on other planets. Dave is a resident of the barren desert in Imperial County , California, near Slab City . Then there is Rick and Cindy, a couple who, together with many others, fight for their daily survival as tunnel people in the underground of Las Vegas . Lalo, called the godfather, also lives there in a small tunnel. The documentary was shown at over 80 festivals around the world.

Above and Below (2015) has received numerous awards, including two golden LOLAs (German film award for best documentary and best camera) in 2016 and three Quartz (Swiss film award for best documentary, best editing, best mix) in 2016. At the same time, the film received the Award for the best music in a German documentary film 2015.

In 2009 his short film Ich bin's, Helmut, set in Valais, won the award for the best Swiss short film at the International Short Film Festival in Winterthur . This was followed by nominations for the best German short film in 2010, winning the International Grand Prix of the largest Asian short film festival in Tokyo in 2011 and it was shortlisted for the Oscars in 2011. Ich bin's Helmut has been shown and received at over 280 festivals in all five continents 42 awards and honorable mentions.

He shot this film as well as his previous work on film material (mostly 16 mm).

His black and white documentary (anti) homeland film Battle of the Queens is about the cow fight between the Eringer cows. A custom that is mainly carried out in the canton of Valais. Steiner captured this mood with a twinkle in his eye with a balancing act between tradition and modernity. The fight scenes are shown in extreme slow motion. This film was also shown in many festivals (including Berlinale 2011 , Perspektive Deutsches Kino) and won several awards.

Filmography

As an actor

As a screenwriter and / or director

  • 2008: Schwitze (screenplay, director)
  • 2009: Blitz, Donner, Windgefauch (screenplay, director)
  • 2009: It's me, Helmut (short film: screenplay, director)
  • 2011: Battle of the Queens (screenplay, direction, production)
  • 2015: Above and Below

As a producer

  • 2008: Schwitze (Producer)
  • 2009: Blitz, Donner, Windgefauch (Producer)
  • 2009: It's me, Helmut (producer)
  • 2011: Battle of the Queens (Co-Producer)
  • 2015: Above and Below

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bern Freiburg Wallis - Homeland honor for Valais director Nicolas Steiner. July 14, 2016, accessed June 28, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Paola Carega, Berlin swissinfo.ch: The cow grabbed by the horns. February 15, 2011, accessed June 28, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Steiner, Nicolas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss actor, screenwriter and director
DATE OF BIRTH 1984
PLACE OF BIRTH Manners