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Stephen Quay
Born
Place
Directing

Stephen Quay

Stephen Quay was born in 1947 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA. He studied illustration at the Philadelphia College of Art and later continued his education at the Royal College of Art in London, where he met his twin brother Timothy and began collaborating in animation. Together, they founded Atelier Koninck and produced their first experimental short films in the late 1970s. Throughout his career, Stephen has directed and co-directed short films, feature films, and stop-motion projects, including Nocturna Artificialia (1979), Street of Crocodiles (1986), Institute Benjamenta (1995), and The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes (2005). His work is characterized by dreamlike, detailed, and symbolic worlds, often using dolls and carefully crafted objects to create surreal and unsettling atmospheres.

As director

Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass

Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass

Ghosts and Whispers

Ghosts and Whispers

The Art Teacher from Drohobycz: Bruno Schulz

VadeMecum

VadeMecum

11 Preliminary Orbits Around Planet Lem

11 Preliminary Orbits Around Planet Lem

The Doll's Breath

The Doll's Breath

Unmistaken Hands: Ex Voto F.H.

Unmistaken Hands: Ex Voto F.H.

Through the Weeping Glass: On the Consolations of Life Everlasting (Limbos & Afterbreezes in the Mütter Museum)

Through the Weeping Glass: On the Consolations of Life Everlasting (Limbos & Afterbreezes in the Mütter Museum)

Maska

Maska

Wonderwood: Comme des garçons

Wonderwood: Comme des garçons

Inventorium of Traces

Kinoteka Ident

Kinoteka Ident

Phantom Museums: The Short Films of the Quay Brothers

Phantom Museums: The Short Films of the Quay Brothers

Eurydice: She, So Beloved

Eurydice: She, So Beloved

Alice in Not So Wonderland

Alice in Not So Wonderland

The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes

The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes

Quay Brothers: The Short Films 1979-2003

Quay Brothers: The Short Films 1979-2003

Songs for Dead Children

Songs for Dead Children

The Phantom Museum: Random Forays Into the Vaults of Sir Henry Wellcome's Medical Collection

The Phantom Museum: Random Forays Into the Vaults of Sir Henry Wellcome's Medical Collection

Stille Nacht V: Dog Door

Stille Nacht V: Dog Door

Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse

Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse

In Absentia

In Absentia

The Sandman

The Sandman

The Brothers Quay Collection: Ten Astonishing Short Films 1984-1993

The Brothers Quay Collection: Ten Astonishing Short Films 1984-1993

Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life

Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life

The Summit

The Summit

Anamorphosis

Anamorphosis

Stille Nacht III: Tales from Vienna Woods

Stille Nacht III: Tales from Vienna Woods

Stille Nacht IV: Can't Go Wrong Without You

Stille Nacht IV: Can't Go Wrong Without You

Stille Nacht II: Are We Still Married?

Stille Nacht II: Are We Still Married?

As actor