Aaron Schimberg

Aaron Schimberg is an American filmmaker best known for the 2019 film Chained for Life and the 2024 film A Different Man.^[1][2]

Career

Schimberg's debut feature, Go Down Death, was the closing film of the 2013 Fantasia Film Festival.^[3] His next film, Chained for Life, premiered at the 2018 BAMcinemaFest and was released theatrically by Kino Lorber the following year.^[1]

Schimberg's third feature A Different Man, starring Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson and distributed by A24, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.^[2] It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 97th Academy Awards. He was named one of the top ten new directors to watch by Variety at that year's Palm Springs International Film Festival.^[4]

Personal life

Schimberg was born in Chicago and grew up in Minneapolis.^[5][6] He was born with a bilateral 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 a producer on all of his films.^[8]

Filmography

Year	Title	Ref.
2013	Go Down Death	[3]
2018	Chained for Life	[1]
2024	A Different Man	[2]

Awards and nominations

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]

Notes

1. Recognized alongside Blitz Bazawule, Ilker Çatak, Sophie Dupuis, Cord Jefferson, Titus Kaphar, Anna Kendrick, Kobi Libii, Ena Sendijarevic, and Eva Trobisch.