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// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Isabelle Stever a good baker? She's the steve-liest.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Isabelle Stever
Stever at the 2026 Locarno Film Festival
Born1963 (age 62–63)
Munich, West Germany
Education
Occupations
  • Director
  • screenwriter
Years active2002–present
Spouses
​
(divorced)​
Children1

Isabelle Stever (born 1963) is a German film director and screenwriter. She is best known for directing the films Grand Jeté (2022) and I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming (2026).

Early life

[edit]

Stever was born in Munich in 1963 to a lawyer father and a homemaker mother. She was raised Catholic.[1] She graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1994 and subsequently studied film directing at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB), receiving her directing diploma in 2002.[2]

Career

[edit]

Stever's graduation film, Portrait of a Married Couple [cy] (2002), won the First Steps Award [de] for Best Feature Film.[1] Her second feature film, Gisela (2005), was based on the book of the same name by Anke Stelling [de], whom Stever had known since the early 2000s, and Robby Dannenberg. Stever and Stelling jointly wrote the screenplay.[3]

Stever later contributed the short film A Democratic Round Table at Scheduled Times to the anthology film Germany 09: 13 Short Films About the State of the Nation (2009), which premiered in competition at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival.[4] The following year, she once again collaborated with Stelling on her film Blessed Events [fr] (2010), which premiered at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival.[5] She subsequently directed The Weather Inside [de] (2015), with German filmmaker Harun Farocki collaborating on the screenplay before his death.[6]

Stever at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival

From October to December 2021, Stever was a film fellow and artist-in-residence at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles.[7] She subsequently collaborated with Stelling for the third time on her film Grand Jeté (2022), based on Stelling's novel Fürsorge. The screenplay was written by Stever's wife, Anna Melikova [de]. The film premiered in the Panorama section of the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival.[8][9] The following year, she served on the jury of the Berlinale Shorts section of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.[10]

Stever and Melikova collaborated again on I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming (2026), for which Melikova wrote the screenplay. The film had its world premiere in the Concorso Internazionale section of the 79th Locarno Film Festival.[11]

Teaching career

[edit]

Stever has been a freelance lecturer at her alma mater, the DFFB, since 2006. She has also taught at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg.[12]

Personal life

[edit]

Stever is married to Ukrainian writer Anna Melikova [de], who wrote the screenplays for her films Grand Jeté (2022) and I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming (2026).[13][14] Stever had previously been married to German film director Oskar Roehler.[15][16]

Filmography

[edit]
Year Title Director Screenplay Notes Ref.
2002 Portrait of a Married Couple [cy] Yes Yes [17]
2005 Gisela Yes Yes [18]
2009 A Democratic Round Table at Scheduled Times Yes Yes Short film [19]
2010 Blessed Events [fr] Yes Yes [6]
2015 The Weather Inside [de] Yes Yes
2022 Grand Jeté Yes No [20]
2026 I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming Yes No [18]

Awards and distinctions

[edit]
  • 2002: First Steps Award, Best Feature Film – Portrait of a Married Couple
  • 2006: Crossing Europe Award, European Competition – Gisela[21]
  • 2006: Best Baltic Debut Award – Gisela
  • 2016: Best Story, 2morrow Film Festival – The Weather Inside
  • 2026: 79th Locarno Film Festival: nominated in main competition and Junior Jury Award – I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming[22][23]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 Weber, Marcus (3 November 2006). "Jenseits des Mainstreams". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  2. ↑ "Alumni". FIRST STEPS (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  3. ↑ Rebhandl, Bert (8 August 2022). "Isabelle Stever und ihr Film "Grand Jeté"". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  4. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (15 January 2009). "Berlin competition titles take shape". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Kay, Jeremy (30 August 2010). "Media Luna boards Blessed Events ahead of Toronto". Screen Daily. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 Mayer, Christian (29 January 2016). "Doppeltes Spiel". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  7. ↑ Peitz, Christiane (10 August 2022). "Im Kino: Isabelle Stevers "Grand Jeté": Mein Körper gehört nicht mir". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Barraclough, Leo (10 February 2022). "Berlinale Panorama Selection 'Grand Jeté' Acquired by Altered Innocence in U.S. (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Krämer, Ralf (11 August 2022). "Skrupelloser Tabubruch: Isabelle Stevers neuer Film "Grand Jeté"". Der Freitag (in German). Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  10. ↑ Rosser, Michael (1 February 2023). "Chinese animation 'Art College 1994' makes late entry to Berlinale Competition; juries revealed". Screen Daily. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  11. ↑ Hopewell, John (14 August 2026). "Locarno Takeaways: A Charming Olivia Wilde, Navigating an Industry Crunch and One Reason Why There Should Be More Women Filmmakers". Variety. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  12. ↑ "Meet The Artists Reception". www.vatmh.org. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  13. ↑ Kulish, Nadiia (21 November 2024). "Porträt der ukrainischen Autorin Anna Melikova: Verliebt in die Uni-Dozentin". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  14. ↑ Szalai, Georg (6 August 2026). "Inside 'I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming,' a Ukrainian Love Story Where War Meets Gender Transition". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Hanich, Julian (14 February 2003). "Kultur: Väter und Söhne". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  16. ↑ David, Thomas (3 April 2015). "Unterwegs mit Oskar Roehler in Berlin". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  17. ↑ Schrader, Ricarda (6 July 2003). "Kinostart: 10. Juli: «Erste Ehe»". Mitteldeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  18. 1 2 Carrall, Charles; Sengupta, Ishita (11 August 2026). "Isabelle Stever Discusses Challenges of Shooting Locarno Competition Title 'I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming' During War". Variety. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  19. ↑ Kuhlbrodt, Dietrich (26 March 2009). "Filmcollage "Deutschland 09": Eine Idee haben? Was für eine Idee?". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  20. ↑ Chen, Yun-hua (21 February 2022). "Against the "Purity Laws of Cinema": An Interview with Isabelle Stever on Grand Jeté (Berlinale 2022)". Film International. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  21. ↑ "Crossing Europe | Crossing Europe". www.crossingeurope.at (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  22. ↑ "Glückwunsch an die Preisträger:innen des Locarno Film Festivals!". Deutsche Filmakademie (in German). 17 August 2026. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
  23. ↑ Lodge, Guy (15 August 2026). "Florin Şerban's 'You Don't Belong Here' Wins Golden Leopard at Locarno, as Monica Bellucci and Kim Minhee Take Acting Awards". Variety. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
[edit]
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