Portrait of Stephen Quay

Directing

Stephen Quay

Career

Active from 1979 to 2025, with up to 3 main titles a year.

Average score
GoodWatch score67/100
Highest rated
Poster for Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
GoodWatch score89/100

What stands out

Compared with the average well-known movie, over 7 of their titles. Select a trait to filter titles.

Energy: 3.5 versus catalog average 4.6EnergyHeart: 3.7 versus catalog average 4.2HeartHumor: 2.6 versus catalog average 2.6HumorWorld: 7.3 versus catalog average 5.6WorldCraft: 6.0 versus catalog average 5.3CraftStyle: 7.5 versus catalog average 5.9Style
Stephen Quay Catalog average

Rarely in their work

  • Contemporary Realism
    1.1, average 5.4
  • Family Dynamics
    1.7, average 4.8
  • Crime
    0.6, average 3.6
  • Adrenaline
    2.3, average 4.8

Main genres

Select a genre to see those titles.

Recurring tags

  • Experimental Film 5
  • Psychological Exploration 3
  • Dark Fantasy 3
  • Visually Haunting 3
  • Artistic 3
  • Abstract Narrative 2
  • Avant-Garde 2
  • Stop-Motion 2
  • Surreal Imagery 2
  • Historical Context 2

Works often with

People in at least two of their main titles.

Movies and TV shows

50
Type
Role
Score
Decade
Genre
Group by

Upcoming

1 title
Kieślowski by Quays
Kieślowski by Quays

Director

2020s

5 titles · average score 70
Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass
Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (2025)
GoodWatch score 70

Director, Sound

The Art Teacher from Drohobycz: Bruno Schulz
The Art Teacher from Drohobycz: Bruno Schulz (2022)

Director

Ghosts and Whispers
Ghosts and Whispers (2022)

Animation, Director

11 Preliminary Orbits Around Planet Lem
11 Preliminary Orbits Around Planet Lem (2021)

Director

VadeMecum
VadeMecum (2021)

Director

2010s

6 titles · average score 72
The Doll's Breath
The Doll's Breath (2019)

Director

Quay
Quay (2015)
GoodWatch score 73

Thanks

Unmistaken Hands: Ex Voto F.H.
Unmistaken Hands: Ex Voto F.H. (2013)

Writer, Animation

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

Animation, Editor

Maska
Maska (2010)
GoodWatch score 71

Writer, Director

Wonderwood: Comme des garçons
Wonderwood: Comme des garçons (2010)

Director

2000s

14 titles · average score 60
Inventorium of Traces
Inventorium of Traces (2009)

Sound Designer, Director of Photography

Kinoteka Ident
Kinoteka Ident (2009)

Director

Eurydice: She, So Beloved
Eurydice: She, So Beloved (2007)

Director, Set Designer

Alice in Not So Wonderland
Alice in Not So Wonderland (2007)

Writer, Director

The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes
The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes (2005)
GoodWatch score 49

Director, Writer

The Phantom Museum: Random Forays Into the Vaults of Sir Henry Wellcome's Medical Collection
The Phantom Museum: Random Forays Into the Vaults of Sir Henry Wellcome's Medical Collection (2003)
GoodWatch score 63

as Librarian

Songs for Dead Children
Songs for Dead Children (2003)

Director

Stille Nacht V: Dog Door
Stille Nacht V: Dog Door (2001)

Director, Writer

Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse
Sonic Cinema: Sparklehorse (2001)

Director

In Absentia
In Absentia (2000)
GoodWatch score 67

Animation, Director

The Sandman
The Sandman (2000)

Director

The Brothers Quay Collection: Ten Astonishing Short Films 1984-1993
The Brothers Quay Collection: Ten Astonishing Short Films 1984-1993 (2000)

Director

1990s

8 titles · average score 69
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life (1995)
GoodWatch score 89

Writer, Director

The Summit
The Summit (1995)

Director

Stille Nacht IV: Can't Go Wrong Without You
Stille Nacht IV: Can't Go Wrong Without You (1993)
GoodWatch score 68

Director, Animation

Stille Nacht III: Tales from Vienna Woods
Stille Nacht III: Tales from Vienna Woods (1993)
GoodWatch score 62

Animation, Director

Anamorphosis
Anamorphosis (1993)
GoodWatch score 68

Art Direction, Director

Stille Nacht II: Are We Still Married?
Stille Nacht II: Are We Still Married? (1992)
GoodWatch score 65

Animation, Camera Operator

The Comb
The Comb (1991)
GoodWatch score 69

Director, Editor

The Calligrapher
The Calligrapher (1991)
GoodWatch score 64

Director, Animation

1980s

15 titles · average score 70
Stille Nacht I: Dramolet
Stille Nacht I: Dramolet (1988)
GoodWatch score 66

Director

Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies
Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies (1988)
GoodWatch score 68

Animation, Decorator

Tales of the Brothers Quay
Tales of the Brothers Quay (1987)

Director

Street of Crocodiles
Street of Crocodiles (1986)
GoodWatch score 77

Production Design, Director

This Unnameable Little Broom
This Unnameable Little Broom (1985)
GoodWatch score 66

Director, Director of Photography

The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer
The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer (1984)
GoodWatch score 70

Director of Photography, Director

The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer: Prague's Alchemist of Film
The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer: Prague's Alchemist of Film (1984)

Director

Janáček: Intimate Excursions
Janáček: Intimate Excursions (1983)

Director

The Falls
The Falls (1982)
GoodWatch score 72

as Ipson Fallari

Igor Stravinsky: The Paris Years Chez Pleyel 1920-1929
Igor Stravinsky: The Paris Years Chez Pleyel 1920-1929 (1982)

Director

Punch and Judy: Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy
Punch and Judy: Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy (1981)

Director, Animation

The Eternal Day of Michel de Ghelderode
The Eternal Day of Michel de Ghelderode (1981)

Director, Writer

1970s

1 title · average score 61
Nocturna Artificialia
Nocturna Artificialia (1979)
GoodWatch score 61

Cinematography, Director