Susanne Schwibs

Biography

I teach documentary, experimental, and 16mm filmmaking.  In collaboration with the Jacobs School of Music, I organize the annual Double Exposure project: teams of student filmmakers and student composers prepare short films that are screened at the IU Cinema with live music accompaniment.

As a filmmaker, I specialize in documentary and nonfiction, and am especially sought after as an editor.  My most recent film is Thunder Rolls! The World of Blind Baseball, co-directed with Robert Arnove and an official selection of the 2023 Heartland International Film Festival, Thin Line Fest and Julien Dubuque International Film Festivals, among others. This documentary follows an Indianapolis beep baseball team as the prepare and compete in the NBBA World Series. Many of my works are on public television, with some having been distributed nationally through PBS, PBS Home Video, APT and Netflix, and winning multiple Regional Emmys and CINE Golden Eagles.  Among my other long-form docs are: Cuba: The Forgotten Revolution (2015), Harp Dreams: Inside the USA International Harp Competition (2010), Wilderness Plots: Songs and Stories of the Prairie (2008), American Horizons: The Photographs of Art Sinsabaugh (2008), Beaux Arts at 50 (2005), Spanning Time: America’s Covered Bridges (2004), No Compromise: Lessons in Feminist Art with Judy Chicago (2002), and Sugarplum Dreams: Staging the Nutcracker Ballet (2001).

Courses:

• T583 Introduction to Documentary Practice
• T576 Media Production Practicum
• P344 Intro to Documentary Filmmaking—Theory and Practice
• P434 Advanced Documentary Production
• P435 Advanced Documentary Workshop
• P335 Production as Criticism—Moving Image Portraits and the Public Screen
• P360/C560 16mm Motion Picture Production
• P438/C638 Experiments with the Film Camera
• P468/C660 Advanced Collaborative Workshop—Double Exposure