Aaron Schimberg is an American filmmaker best known for the 2019 filmChained for Life and the 2024 filmA Different Man.[1][2]
Schimberg's debut feature,Go Down Death, was the closing film of the 2013Fantasia Film Festival.[3] His next film,Chained for Life, premiered at the 2018BAMcinemaFest and was released theatrically byKino Lorber the following year.[1]
Schimberg's third featureA Different Man, starringSebastian Stan andAdam Pearson and distributed byA24, premiered at the2024 Sundance Film Festival.[2] It was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the97th Academy Awards. He was named one of the top ten new directors to watch byVariety at that year'sPalm Springs International Film Festival.[4]
Schimberg was born in Chicago and grew up in Minneapolis.[5][6] He was born with abilateral cleft lip and palate and cites it as the reason he gravitates toward narratives about facial disfigurement and disability.[7]
Schimberg is married to Vanessa McDonnell, who is aproducer on all of his films.[8]
| Year | Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Go Down Death | [3] |
| 2018 | Chained for Life | [1] |
| 2024 | A Different Man | [2] |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Florida Film Festival | Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature | Chained for Life | Won | [9] |
| New Hampshire Film Festival | Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature | Won | [9] | ||
| Knoxville Film Festival | Best Narrative Feature Film | Won | [9] | ||
| New Orleans Film Festival | Best Narrative Feature | Won | [9] | ||
| Champs-Élysées Film Festival | Best American Feature Film | Nominated | [10] | ||
| Method Fest Independent Film Festival | Best Director Feature Film | Nominated | [11] | ||
| Best Feature Film | Won | [11] | |||
| 2024 | Berlin International Film Festival | Golden Bear | A Different Man | Nominated | [12] |
| Sitges Film Festival | Best Screenplay | Won | [13] | ||
| Gotham Awards | Best Feature | Won | [14] | ||
| Independent Spirit Awards | Best Screenplay | Pending | |||
| Palm Springs International Film Festival | Top 10 Directors to Watch | Won[a] | [4] |
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