Orlando von Einsiedel
Orlando von Einsiedel | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 1980 (age 45) London, England |
| Education | University of Manchester London School of Economics |
| Occupations | Film director, producer |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Notable work | Virunga, The White Helmets, Evelyn, Learning To Skateboard In A Warzone (if you're a girl), The Lost Children |
| Website | Grain Media |
Orlando von Einsiedel[1] (born in August 1980)[2] is a British film director and producer. He directs mostly documentary films that investigate global social issues, and has filmed in various places around the world, including Africa, Asia, America and the Arctic. Von Einsiedel became known for his award winning film Virunga, produced with the cooperation of Virunga National Park director Prince de Merode.
Early life
Von Einsiedel is the grandson of Wittgo von Einsiedel, a second cousin of Heinrich Graf von Einsiedel, and of Walburga von Oberndorff; both were members of the former German nobility.[1] His father, Andreas Jean-Paul von Einsiedel, was a photographer specialising in architecture and interiors.[3] Von Einsiedel grew up in Forest Gate, London, with his mother Harriet, a British music therapist. He attended Alleyn's, an independent school in East Dulwich, London.[4]
University
Von Einsiedel studied social anthropology at the University of Manchester[5] and got an MSc in anthropology and development at the London School of Economics.[6]
Film career
Von Einsiedel began his filmmaking career making snowboard films before moving into documentaries.[7] Many of von Einsiedel's documentaries have been screened at film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival,[8] the Telluride Film Festival[9] and the Toronto International Film Festival.[10]
Von Einsiedel directed Virunga (2014), which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature, and The White Helmets (2016), which won for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Both nominations were shared with producer Joanna Natasegara. His 2018 film, Evelyn, about his late brother, launched at the London Film Festival and won the BIFA for Best Documentary. In 2020, Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you're a girl), a film he was an executive producer on and which grew out of his earlier film Skateistan: To Live and Skate Kabul,[11] won the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). In 2024 he released Los Niños Perdidos / The Lost Children. The film was nominated for a Platino Award[12] and reached the number 2 spot on the Netflix global top ten most watched films list.[13][14] In 2025 von Einsiedel released The Cycle Of Love which launched at the Telluride Film Festival.[15]
In 2006, he co-founded Grain Media.
Snowboard career
Von Einsiedel spent several years as a professional snowboarder.[4][16]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Skateistan: To Live and Skate Kabul | Yes | Yes | Documentary Short |
| 2012 | Aisha's Song | Yes | Yes | Documentary Short |
| 2012 | Radio Amina | Yes | Yes | Documentary Short |
| 2012 | Pirate Fishing | Yes | No | TV Series |
| 2013 | We Ride: The Story of Snowboarding | Yes | No | |
| 2013 | The Cure: Doctors on Everest - Investigating Intensive Care | Yes | No | TV Series |
| 2013 | Earthrise | Yes | Yes | TV Series |
| 2014 | Virunga | Yes | Yes | |
| 2014 | We Are Fire | Yes | No | Documentary Short |
| 2015 | King of the Mountain | Yes | No | Documentary Short |
| 2015 | SuperBob | No | Yes | Executive Producer |
| 2016 | The White Helmets | Yes | No | Documentary Short |
| 2018 | Evelyn | Yes | No | |
| 2018 | Bruce Lee And The Outlaw | No | Yes | Executive Producer |
| 2019 | Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) | No | Yes | Executive Producer |
| 2019 | Lost and Found | Yes | No | Documentary Short |
| 2019 | Into The Fire | Yes | No | Documentary Short |
| 2019 | The Seahorse | No | Yes | Executive Producer |
| 2020 | Still Human | Yes | No | Documentary Short |
| 2020 | The Lost Forest | Yes | No | Documentary Short |
| 2021 | Convergence: Courage in a Crisis | Yes | Yes | |
| 2021 | Death in Bollywood | No | Yes | Executive Producer |
| 2021 | The Phantom | No | Yes | Executive Producer |
| 2021 | Into Dust | Yes | No | Short Film |
| 2022 | From Devil's Breath | Yes | No | Documentary Short |
| 2022 | Bastille: Hope For The Future | Yes | No | Music Video |
| 2023 | The Walk | No | Yes | |
| 2023 | Heart of Invictus | Yes | No | Documentary Series |
| 2024 | The Lost Children | Yes | No | |
| 2024 | Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy | No | Yes | Executive Producer |
| 2025 | The Cycle of Love | Yes | No |
References
- ^ a b People of Today 2017 / Lucy Hume
- ^ "Tirunga". DOCS Barcelona. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ Website featuring von Einsiedel's father's photography
- ^ a b "The gorillas, Leo and me: Orlando von Einsiedel interview". 6 February 2015.
- ^ "Orlando Von Einsiedel - School of Social Sciences - The University of Manchester". www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk.
- ^ "Collect Your Alumni Campus Card".
- ^ Orlando von Einsiedel. Retrieved 2026-01-24 – via www.redbull.com.
- ^ Dazed (2012-08-01). "Skateistan: The Tale of Skateboarding in Afghanistan". Dazed. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ^ Carey, Matthew (2025-08-28). "'The Cycle Of Love' First-Look Clip: Epic True Love Story From Director Orlando Von Einsiedel & EP Priyanka Chopra Jonas To Premiere At Telluride". Deadline. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ^ "British Council UK Films Database: The White Helmets". filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ^ Lyons, James (2025-01-02). "Girlhood, performance and risk: Learning to skateboard in a war zone (if you're a girl) and the action sports documentary". Studies in Documentary Film. 19 (1): 1–15. doi:10.1080/17503280.2024.2415456. hdl:10871/137634. ISSN 1750-3280.
- ^ Sánchez, Fernanda Pérez (2025-04-27). "Ganadores de los Premios Platino 2025: Lista completa". Vogue (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ^ "Redundancies, Netflix Global Successes, and Development News: Making a Production Updates From Grain Media | International Documentary Association". www.documentary.org. 2025-02-12. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ^ "The Lost Children 2nd most watched film Globally". Grain Media. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ^ "Telluride Film Festival 2025: The Cycle of Love, H is for Hawk, La Grazia | Festivals & Awards | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. 2025-09-03. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ^ "Ex-Pro Snowboarder Wins Oscar For Best Documentary - Boardsport SOURCE". Boardsport SOURCE. 27 February 2017. Archived from the original on 2022-04-08.