Writer-Director
Clara Stern was born in 1987 in Vienna, Austria, she speaks fluent German, English, French and basic Dutch. She studied Theatre, Film, and Media Sciences (MA degree) in Vienna and in Utrecht, NL, and worked in theatres, for television, and in youth media workshops. In 2009, she began her studies at the Film Academy Vienna, with professors Michael Haneke, Wolfgang Thaler and Götz Spielmann. Clara holds a Master’s degree in Screenwriting and a Bachelor’s degree in Directing. Her graduation short film MATHIAS won the Austrian Academy Award in 2018 and travelled international film festivals. Her debut feature film Breaking the Ice, about a female ice hockey player in search for her identity and place within her team and family, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, NY, in 2022. The film went on to win several awards, i.e., Best Screenwriting at Max Ophüls Film Festival 2023. Clara was part of the Berlinale Talents Campus and the Zurich Film Festival Academy in 2024. Since March 2024, next to working on new projects, Clara teaches Storytelling at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.