Shawn Christensen

Shawn Christensen is an American filmmaker, musician, and visual artist whose creative output spans indie rock, illustration, and award-winning cinema. A graduate of Pratt Institute with a BFA in illustration and graphic design, Christensen first gained recognition as the frontman of the indie rock band Stellastarr before pivoting to filmmaking.

His short film Curfew (2012) follows a suicidal man whose estranged sister calls asking him to babysit her daughter for the evening — an errand that pulls him back from the brink. The film won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013 and screened at the Manhattan Short Film Festival in 2012, where it was among the year’s most warmly received entries.

Christensen subsequently expanded Curfew into the feature film Before I Disappear (2014), which he wrote, directed, and starred in. His multidisciplinary background — illustration, music, performance — gives his films a distinctive visual and rhythmic quality. The emotional directness of Curfew, balanced against its stylish visual language, exemplifies Christensen’s ability to blend genre aesthetics with genuine pathos.

Finalist Filmography

• Curfew — Manhattan Short 2012 Finalist