Shaul Schwarz
Director, producer, cinematographer and writer · Born January 1, 1974 (52) · Israel
Sundance award nominee · Independent Spirit Award winner
Shaul Schwarz is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, cinematographer and photojournalist based in Brooklyn, NY. His debut documentary, Narco Cultura, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. He is also a regular photographic contributor to Time magazine and National Geographic and has directed content for Netflix, Discovery Channel, History Channel and CNN. In 2016, he directed the Emmy-winning series A Year in Space, produced with Time’s Red Border Films, co-directed the documentary Aida's Secrets, which premiered at Hot Docs in 2016, and co-directed the Emmy-winning documentary, Trophy, which premiered at Sundance in 2017. Shaul is the co-founder of Reel Peak Films with Christina Clusiau. He was an executive producer and cinematographer on the Netflix documentary series Unnatural Selection and director and executive producer of Immigration Nation. Most recently, Shaul produced Tantura, directed by Alon Schwarz, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 1, 1974 (52)
- Israel
- Director, producer, cinematographer and writer
- 13 on MovieCove · 15 credits in all
What are Shaul Schwarz's films like?
Across their 13 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Power.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 10
A split, not a type: Light 3 · Serious 3 · Dark 4
Grounded 10 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 3 · Charged 2 · Intense 5
Steady 7 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 10 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 9 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 1 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 6
Resolved 4 · Open-ended 4 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet6
- Ambiguous5
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Shaul Schwarz's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 9 of their 13 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Shaul Schwarz's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
15 credits, 13 with a MovieCove page.
Fly(2024)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all shows
Tantura(2022)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Immigration Nation(2020)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all shows
Unnatural Selection(2019)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all shows
Beyond Silence (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Trophy(2017)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Aida's Secrets(2016)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
A Year in Space(2016)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Southern Rites(2015)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
Nelson Mandela Redrawn(2014)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Narco Cultura(2013)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
Song from the Forest(2013)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all filmsFly (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 13 titles, 12 of them dated from 2013 to 2024.
Biggest box office
Narco Cultura (2013)
Highest rated
Tantura (2022)
Most popular right now
Nelson Mandela Redrawn (2014)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
1 major award from 3 major nominations, 2013–2021.
- Independent Spirit Award, won · Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
- Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
- Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Shaul Schwarz's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 83rd percentile, the median of all 10; across their 10 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 86th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up10
- 50th to 74th3
Shape of the crowd
7 of their 13 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Loved with Detractors1
- Divisive1
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser7
- Mixed2
Reviewers score the atmosphere 76/100 and the pacing 59/100 in their films, across 8 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Shaul Schwarz work with?
People who share at least 2 of Shaul Schwarz's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Christina Clusiau shares the most, 7.
Directors
- Christina ClusiauShared titles: Fly (2024), Shaun White: The Last Run (2023), Tantura (2022), Immigration Nation (2020), Unnatural Selection (2019), Trophy (2017), Aida's Secrets (2016)See all 7 shared titles with Christina Clusiau
- Alon SchwarzShared titles: Tantura (2022), Aida's Secrets (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Alon Schwarz
- Brett Lotriet BestShared titles: Nelson Mandela Redrawn (2014), Miracle Rising: South Africa (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Brett Lotriet Best
Writers
- Halil EfratShared titles: Tantura (2022), Trophy (2017), Aida's Secrets (2016)See all 3 shared titles with Halil Efrat
Composers and editors
- Jay Arthur SterrenbergShared titles: Fly (2024), Immigration Nation (2020), Trophy (2017), Narco Cultura (2013)See all 4 shared titles with Jay Arthur Sterrenberg
- Jeremy TurnerShared titles: Shaun White: The Last Run (2023), Immigration Nation (2020), Trophy (2017), Narco Cultura (2013)See all 4 shared titles with Jeremy Turner
- Andrey AlistratovShared titles: Fly (2024), Shaun White: The Last Run (2023), Immigration Nation (2020), Unnatural Selection (2019)See all 4 shared titles with Andrey Alistratov
- James Martin MorrisonShared titles: Fly (2024), Immigration Nation (2020), Unnatural Selection (2019)See all 3 shared titles with James Martin Morrison
Producers
- Lauren HaberShared titles: Fly (2024), Immigration Nation (2020), Trophy (2017), Narco Cultura (2013)See all 4 shared titles with Lauren Haber
- Marc ZahakosShared titles: Fly (2024), Shaun White: The Last Run (2023), Tantura (2022), Immigration Nation (2020)See all 4 shared titles with Marc Zahakos
- Paula M. FroehleShared titles: Fly (2024), Tantura (2022), Trophy (2017)See all 3 shared titles with Paula M. Froehle
- Steven H. CohenShared titles: Fly (2024), Tantura (2022), Trophy (2017)See all 3 shared titles with Steven H. Cohen
