Director of
I RARELY WAKE UP DREAMING
Isabelle Stever, born 1963, holds a degree in mathematics and studied directing at the DFFB. Her graduation film ERSTE EHE was awarded, among others, the First Steps Award for Young Directors in 2002. Her debut GISELA premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2005 and received, among others, the Crossing Europe Award and the Best Baltic Debut Award.
In 2009, she contributed the short film EINE DEMOKRATISCHE GESPRÄCHSRUNDE ZU FESTGELEGTEN ZEITEN to the omnibus film DEUTSCHLAND 09, which premiered in competition at the Berlinale. In 2011, GLÜCKLICHE FÜGUNG premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2016, DAS WETTER IN GESCHLOSSENEN RÄUMEN (dramaturgy by Harun Farocki) was shown at, among others, the Busan International Film Festival and won the Best Story Award at the 2morrow Film Festival.
In 2021, Stever was a fellow at Villa Aurora, and in 2022 GRAND JETÉ premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival. Her new film I RARELY WAKE UP DREAMING was invited to the competition of the Locarno International Film Festival in 2026, where it won the L'ambiente è qualità di vita award. Isabelle Stever lives in Berlin and works as a director and writer, as well as a freelance lecturer at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin.
Films (selection): REQUIEM FÜR ETWAS, DAS SEHR KLEIN IST (1997), ERSTE EHE (2002), GISELA (2006), EINE DEMOKRATISCHE GESPRÄCHSRUNDE ZU FESTGELEGTEN ZEITEN (2009), GLÜCKLICHE FÜGUNG (2011), DAS WETTER IN GESCHLOSSENEN RÄUMEN (2015), GRAND JETÉ (2022), I RARELY WAKE UP DREAMING (2026)