---
name: "Orlando von Einsiedel"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/orlando-von-einsiedel"
fi1m_id: "orlando-von-einsiedel"
imdb_id: "nm3915542"
tmdb_id: 1308004
wikidata_id: "Q19297690"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "1 January 1980"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "director"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-01T23:28:53.595527+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Orlando von Einsiedel

## Identity

Orlando von Einsiedel

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/orlando-von-einsiedel
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** orlando-von-einsiedel
- **IMDb ID:** nm3915542
- **TMDB ID:** 1308004
- **Wikidata ID:** Q19297690
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_von_Einsiedel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19297690, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3915542/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1308004

Director. Born 1 January 1980 in London, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 1 January 1980, London, UK
- **Active:** 2014–present
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 1 nominated)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_von_Einsiedel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19297690, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3915542/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1308004

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*Virunga*](https://film.one/film/virunga.md) (84)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Orlando von Einsiedel

> Orlando von Einsiedel makes absorbing documentaries about people doing difficult, necessary work. We value his attention to individuals, though he can press the suspense too hard once those people have already given us reason to care.

In *Virunga* (2014), protecting gorillas is a job, and the film attends to the people doing it. Orlando von Einsiedel takes their work seriously enough to make them more than witnesses brought on to explain a problem, and the film is more absorbing for it. André Bauma and Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo matter as individuals, rather than simply as representatives of the park. We were distressed by how much depended on people who could not be sure of their own safety.

His social-issue shorts led to *Virunga*, his feature debut, and that interest in people working under pressure continued in *The White Helmets* (2016). It follows Syrian Civil Defence volunteers, with some of the filming by local cinematographer Khaled Khateeb. *Evelyn* (2018) marked a turn towards a more personal documentary. *The Lost Children* (2024), co-directed with Jorge Durán and Lali Houghton, centres on a rescue effort in the Colombian Amazon.

Von Einsiedel works regularly with composer Patrick Jonsson, using music to help audiences connect with the people on screen. It is a deliberate effort to reach viewers whose circumstances may be far from those of his subjects, and we understand the impulse. But we would sooner have more time to watch those people work than more encouragement to care about them.

*Virunga* makes that reservation clear without letting it spoil an absorbing film. The editing is assured, but its thriller-like urgency sometimes keeps us waiting for the next threat when we would rather have time to consider the rangers' work. The quieter portraits have earned our concern, and the added suspense sometimes makes it too obvious how we are meant to feel. His attention to individuals keeps the film from becoming a lecture about why the park matters. Start with *Virunga*, and allow for some unnecessary suspense in a film whose subjects give us ample reason to stay.

## Biography

Orlando von Einsiedel is a British documentary film director, producer and writer. He began his career making snowboard films before moving into documentaries focused on global social issues, having filmed in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Arctic.

He is best known for *Virunga* (2014), which he directed, wrote and produced; the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. His short documentary *The White Helmets* (2016) won the Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Other credits include *The Lost Children* (2024) and *The Cycle of Love* (2025).

Von Einsiedel studied social anthropology at the University of Manchester. He is a former professional snowboarder and lives in London.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, deadline.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Virunga* (2014), Fi1m 84, Writer, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/virunga.md)

## Complete filmography (29)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Cycle of Love* (2026), Director
- *Heaven 17: The Last Temptation* (2026), Executive Producer
- *Allies in Exile* (2026), Producer
- *The Lost Children* (2024), Director
- *The Walk* (2023), Producer
- *Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America* (2023), Executive Producer
- *Heart of Invictus* (2023), series, Director
- *Convergence: Courage in a Crisis* (2021), Director, Producer
- *From Devil’s Breath* (2021), Director
- *Into Dust* (2021), Director
- *The Phantom* (2021), Executive Producer
- *The Lost Forest* (2020), Director
- *Still Human* (2020), Director
- *An Unfinished Symphony* (2020), Director
- *Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)* (2020), Executive Producer
- *Lost and Found* (2019), Director
- *Evelyn* (2019), Director
- *Into the Fire* (2019), Director
- *Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth* (2019), Executive Producer
- *Bruce Lee and the Outlaw* (2018), Executive Producer
- *2017 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary* (2017), Director
- *The White Helmets* (2016), Director
- *Moon Shot* (2016), series, Director
- *SuperBob* (2015), Executive Producer
- *King of the Mountain* (2015), Director, Producer
- *Virunga* (2014), Director, Producer, Writer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/virunga.md)
- *All This Mayhem* (2014), Thanks
- *We Ride: The Story of Snowboarding* (2013), Director
- *Skateistan: To Live and Skate Kabul* (2011), Director

## Gallery

- ![Orlando von Einsiedel](https://film.one/media/person/3676725/gallery-18aeebb1c851.jpg) Orlando von Einsiedel — The Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Orlando_von_Einsiedel%2C_74th_Peabody_Award.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Orlando von Einsiedel at Nobel Week Dialogue in Göteborg 2017](https://film.one/media/person/3676725/gallery-86086508588b.jpg) Orlando von Einsiedel at Nobel Week Dialogue in Göteborg 2017 — Bengt Oberger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Orlando_von_Einsiedel_01.jpg/1280px-Orlando_von_Einsiedel_01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Producer Joanna Natasegara and Director Orlando von Einsiedel accept the Peabody Award for Virunga. Cipriani Wall Street (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/3676725/gallery-7848930725cc.jpg) Producer Joanna Natasegara and Director Orlando von Einsiedel accept the Peabody Award for Virunga. Cipriani Wall Street (2015) — The Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Joanna_Natasegara_and_Orlando_von_Einsiedel_at_the_74th_Annual_Peabody_Awards_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Joanna_Natasegara_and_Orlando_von_Einsiedel_at_the_74th_Annual_Peabody_Awards_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Producer Joanna Natasegara and Director Orlando von Einsiedel accept the Peabody Award for Virunga. Cipriani Wall Street (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/3676725/gallery-49088b874b11.jpg) Producer Joanna Natasegara and Director Orlando von Einsiedel accept the Peabody Award for Virunga. Cipriani Wall Street (2015) — The Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Joanna_Natasegara_and_Orlando_von_Einsiedel_at_the_74th_Annual_Peabody_Awards.jpg/1280px-Joanna_Natasegara_and_Orlando_von_Einsiedel_at_the_74th_Annual_Peabody_Awards.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Producer Joanna Natasegara and Director Orlando von Einsiedel accept the Peabody Award for Virunga (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/3676725/gallery-a63850697470.jpg) Producer Joanna Natasegara and Director Orlando von Einsiedel accept the Peabody Award for Virunga (2015) — Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Joanna_Natasegara_and_Orlando_von_Einsiedel%2C_May_2015.jpg/1280px-Joanna_Natasegara_and_Orlando_von_Einsiedel%2C_May_2015.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 1 nominated

- 2017: Best Documentary (Short Subject) (won), for *The White Helmets*
- 2015: Best Documentary Feature Film (nominated), for *Virunga*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/orlando-von-einsiedel