Shona Auerbach is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

Early career

Auerbach began her career as a stills photographer. She studied film at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

and cinematography at

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

before completing her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

at the Polish National Film School in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

. Her first directorial effort was the 1996

short subject A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

''Seven'', which won her awards from the Munich International Festival of Film Schools, the Montecatini Filmvideo International Short Film Festival in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and the Capalbio Cinema International Short Film Festival in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. She spent the next several years directing

commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

while at the same time preparing her debut

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

, '' Dear Frankie'', which was shown at numerous film festivals in 2004 and was released commercially in early 2005. She also served as cinematographer on both films.

Awards and recognition

For ''Dear Frankie'', Auerbach was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Director. She won the Heartland Film Festival Crystal Heart Award, the High Falls Film Festival Audience Award for Best Feature Film, the Jackson Hole Film Festival Cowboy Award for Best Feature Film, the Los Angeles IFP/West Film Festival Audience Award for Best International Feature Film, the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...

Women in Cinema Lena Sharpe Award, and the WinFemme Film Festival Award (part of Women's Image Network Awards) for Best Film or TV Show Directed by a Woman.

Personal life

Auerbach is married to cinematographer Graeme Dunn.

References

External links

Shona Auerbach - Official Website
*
BBC interview

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auerbach, Shona British film directors British cinematographers Living people Movie stills photographers British women photographers Year of birth missing (living people)