Born in Düsseldorf, Isabel Kleefeld partly financed her studies at Berlin's Free University and the University of Arts (HdK) by working as an editorial assistant on programs produced at local broadcaster SFB and later as a production assistant and script/continuity consultant on various films. After graduation in 1993, she worked as a first assistant director for such colleagues as Detlev Buck ("Jailbirds"), Sönke Wortmann ("The Campus"), Lars Becker ("Kanak Attack") and Oliver Hirschbiegel ("The Experiment") before making her directorial debut in 2001 with the TV film "Schluss mit lustig" which earned third place in Studio Hamburg's Young Director's Prize.

Her 2004 TV film "Das Gespenst von Canterville" received a Best Film nomination at the 2005 German Television Prize and won the Bavarian Television Award for Best Director. In 2007, she was awarded the highly regarded Adolf Grimme Prize for her screenplay and direction of "Arnies Welt". Last year, Kleefeld made her feature film directorial debut with "Ruhm", an adaptation of Daniel Kehlmann's bestseller "Fame: A Novel in Nine Episodes".

Her other films include: "Königskinder" (TV, 2002), "Mord auf Rezept" (TV, 2005), "Unter Verdacht – Ein neues Leben" (TV, 2006), "Unter Verdacht – Die falsche Frau" (TV, 2008), "Sleepless" ("Schlaflos", TV, 2008), "Mama kommt!" (TV, 2008), and "Blond bringt nix" (TV, 2009).

Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH