David Schurmann
OccupationFilm director, film producer, screenwriter, explorer & CEO
Years active1992–present
Birth date1974 (age 52–53)
Birth placeFlorianópolis, Brazil
Spouse
  • Dionne Webster (m. 1994; div. 1997)
  • Gabriela Tocchio dos Santos (m. 2003; div. 2012)
AwardsBest film at the Recife Cinema Festival
Education
FatherVilfredo Schurmann
Websitewww.schurmannfilmes.com.br

David Schurmann is a film director, producer, screenwriter, explorer, author and CEO.

Early life

Schurmann started filming at age 13 during the Schurmann Family first sailing circumnavigation of the globe.

He received his formal training in film and television in New Zealand, completing his education in the United States. He has since worked as a director and producer of feature films, television programs and documentaries.

Career

As producer/director/cinematographer of the Schurmann Family Adventures, he has filmed around the world, most notably during the Magellan Global Adventure (1997–2000).

In 2007, Schurmann released his first feature film, The World Twice Around, a documentary that won two awards at the Recife Cinema Festival (Cine PE), for Best Film and Best Sound Editing. In 2011 he released Missing, a suspense/horror mockumentary film.

Between 2009 and 2012, he produced and directed the documentary and series U-513 Lonely Wolf, about the great search and discovery of the German submarine German submarine U-513 sunk in the coast of southern Brazil.

Schurmann then directed and produced the feature film Little Secret, based on the story of Katherine Schurmann, his adopted sister.[1][2] The film, which he worked on for six years, was chose as the Brazilian submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in 2017.

In 2017, the National Geographic released the 11-part series Orient Expedition, which Schurmann directed and produced.

In 2017, Schurmann and his family founded Voice of the Oceans and officially launched it on August 29, 2021, after four years of development. The global initiative to fight plastic pollution in the oceans includes a nautical expedition, a science project, an open innovation program, and an education project. With the global support of the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

In 2022, he directed My Penguin Friend starring Jean Reno and Adriana Barraza, with photography by Anthony Dod Mantle and production design by Mercedes Alfonsin.[3]

Filmography

Films Fiction

YearTitleNotes
2011Missing
2016Little SecretBrazilian submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
2024My Penguin Friend

Films Documentaries

YearTitle
1995Em Busca Do Sonho
2007The World Twice Round
2021U-513 Lonely Wolf

Series Documentary

YearTitleNetwork
1996Get Real
1996-2005Magellan Global Adventure
2017Orient ExpeditionNational Geographic
2022Voice of the Oceans ExpeditionCanal Off

Selected books

  • Da Inspiração à Tela - a jornada de um filme - non-fiction, filmmaking book 2020.
  • Ao Vento - non-fiction book 2009.

References

  1. ^ Variety, [1] Variety.com, 19 December 2014.
  2. ^ Débora Miranda, "David Schürmann fará filme baseado na história de sua irmã adotada", Globo.com, 19 August 2008.
  3. ^ Deadline