Biography
Christoph Schaub, born 1958 in Zürich, Switzerland, initially started to study German literature but already dropped out of university in 1982 to get into the film industry. One year earlier, the autodidact had already joined Mediengenossenschaft Videoladen Zürich. Schaub was a member of Mediengenossenschaft until 1992 and participated as a cutter, cinematographer, and assistant director in numerous film projects.
In 1988, he set up the production company "Dschoint Ventschr" but withdrew from the company's board in 1991. One year later, he was one of the initiators of the Zürich movie theatre Morgental which was followed by the movie theatre RiffRaff. To this date, Schaub is a member of RiffRaff's administrative board. In 1996, he started to work as a lecturer at Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst in Zürich where he also teaches until today.
Christoph Schaub made his feature-length debut film in 1987 with the motion picture "Wendel" that was shown at the Solothurn Film Festival and at the Film Festival "Max Ophuels Prize" in Saarbrücken. His second feature film "Dreißig Jahre" (1989) won the Prix Spécial at the 1990 Strasbourg International Film Festival.
His next films "Am Ende der Nacht" ("At The End of the Night", 1992), the documentary film "Die Reisen des Santiago Clavatra" (1999), and "Stille Liebe" were shown at international festivals, won nominations for movie awards, and received positive reviews – however, they did not turn out as box office hits.
Schaub finally landed a box office hit with his comedy "Sternenberg" (2004) that was initially produced for the TV screen. In Switzerland alone, the film about a man who returns to his home village after 30 years and comes up with the strange plan to save the local school attracted 120.000 viewers to the movie theatres. Thanks to the success of "Sternenberg", Schaub was able to finish the bilingual (Swiss-German/French) comedy "Jeune Homme" that also turned out to be a box office hit.
Subsequently, Schaub finished "Bird's Nest Herzog & de Meuron in China", a long-term documentary film about Peking's National Stadium that was designed by the world-famous Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.
After the omnibus film "Happy New Year" that was nominated for four Swiss Film Awards, Christoph Schaub finished the comedy "Giulias Verschwinden" ("Julia's Disappearance", 2009) that is based on a screenplay by Martin Suter. The film's prominent cast includes Corinna Harfouch and Bruno Ganz in the leading roles. "Giulias Verschwinden" won the Prix du Public at the Locarno International Film Festival and became the highest-grossing Swiss film of 2009. Schaub's next feature film "Nachtlärm" followed in 2012, again as a Swiss-German co-production and based on a screenplay by Martin Suter.