Stephen Quay

Person

Stephen Quay

Directing 79 June 17, 1947

Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA

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 o…

IMDb

Known for

Popular titles

Street of Crocodiles

Street of Crocodiles

6.6 1986 Movie
Quay

Quay

6.0 2015 Movie
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life

Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life

7.6 1995 Movie
The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer

The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer

6.9 1984 Movie
The Falls

The Falls

7.3 1982 Movie
The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes

The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes

6.3 2005 Movie
Stille Nacht I: Dramolet

Stille Nacht I: Dramolet

6.4 1988 Movie
Stille Nacht II: Are We Still Married?

Stille Nacht II: Are We Still Married?

6.1 1992 Movie
The Comb

The Comb

6.7 1991 Movie
In Absentia

In Absentia

6.5 2000 Movie
This Unnameable Little Broom

This Unnameable Little Broom

6.2 1985 Movie
Anamorphosis

Anamorphosis

6.6 1993 Movie

Biography

A closer look

Read full biography

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.

Filmography

Movies and shows, newest first

  1. 2026
    Sledgehammer Revealed

    Movie Self

  2. 2025
    Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass

    Movie Director

  3. 2022
    The Art Teacher from Drohobycz: Bruno Schulz

    Movie Director

  4. 2022
    Ghosts and Whispers

    Movie Animation

  5. 2021
    11 Preliminary Orbits Around Planet Lem

    Movie Director

  6. 2021
    VadeMecum

    Movie Director

  7. 2019
    The Doll's Breath

    Movie Director

  8. 2017
    The Music of Zdeněk Liška

    Movie Self

  9. 2015
    The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin

    Movie

  10. 2015
    Quay

    Movie Self

  11. 2013
    Unmistaken Hands: Ex Voto F.H.

    Movie Animation

  12. 2011
    Through the Weeping Glass: On the Consolations of Life Everlasting (Limbos & Afterbreezes in the Mütter Museum)

    Movie Director

  13. 2011
    Behind the Scenes with the Quay Brothers

    Movie Self

  14. 2010
    Wonderwood: Comme des garçons

    Movie Director

  15. 2010
    Maska

    Movie Director

  16. 2010
    Inside The Institute

    Movie

More credits
  1. 2009
    The Art of Time

    Movie

  2. 2009
    Kinoteka Ident

    Movie Director

  3. 2009
    The Bug Trainer

    Movie Self - stop-motion animator

  4. 2009
    Inventorium of Traces

    Movie Sound Designer

  5. 2007
    Eurydice: She, So Beloved

    Movie Director

  6. 2007
    Alice in Not So Wonderland

    Movie Writer

  7. 2007
    Phantom Museums: The Short Films of the Quay Brothers

    Movie Director

  8. 2006
    The Making of "The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes"

    Movie

  9. 2005
    The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes

    Movie Director

  10. 2004
    Quay Brothers: The Short Films 1979-2003

    Movie Director

  11. 2003
    The Phantom Museum: Random Forays Into the Vaults of Sir Henry Wellcome's Medical Collection

    Movie Librarian

  12. 2003
    Songs for Dead Children

    Movie Director

  13. 2001
    Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse

    Movie Director

  14. 2001
    Stille Nacht V: Dog Door

    Movie Director

  15. 2000
    The Sandman

    Movie Director

  16. 2000
    In Absentia

    Movie Director

  17. 2000
    The Brothers Quay Collection: Ten Astonishing Short Films 1984-1993

    Movie Director

  18. 1995
    Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life

    Movie Director

  19. 1995
    The Summit

    Movie Director

  20. 1993
    Stille Nacht IV: Can't Go Wrong Without You

    Movie Director

  21. 1993
    Stille Nacht III: Tales from Vienna Woods

    Movie Director

  22. 1993
    Anamorphosis

    Movie Director

  23. 1992
    Stille Nacht II: Are We Still Married?

    Movie Director

  24. 1991
    The Comb

    Movie Director