Till Schauder

Till Schauder is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and Visiting Professor at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where he teaches film alongside appointments at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. His internationally acclaimed documentaries and narrative features have premiered at Tribeca, Berlin, and Tokyo film festivals, exploring cultural identity and political resistance through cinematic storytelling.

Schauder’s creative practice centers on documentary filmmaking that interrogates cross-cultural conflicts, sports diplomacy, and artistic expression under oppression. His work consistently examines Iranian society and diaspora experiences while employing innovative cinematography to humanize geopolitical tensions, blending immersive storytelling with rigorous ethnographic observation.

His filmography reveals a trajectory from narrative features like SANTA SMOKES to politically charged documentaries addressing censorship and resistance. Key thematic threads include the weaponization of sports for cultural dialogue, music as protest against authoritarian regimes, and refugee narratives challenging Western perceptions of the Middle East.

His accolades include:

• Best Director at Tokyo International Film Festival
• Golden Heynal Award at Krakow International Film Festival
• German Emmy
• ARD Top of the Docs Award
• Most Valuable Documentary of the Year from Cinema for Peace

Filmmaking grants from Sundance Documentary Institute, Fork Films, and German media foundations (FFA/German Federal Film Board, Film und Medienstiftung NRW) enable his boundary-pushing work. Schauder co-runs Brooklyn-based production company Partner Pictures with his wife Sara Nodjoumi, fostering collaborative documentary projects that intersect art and social justice.