Gallery
All Pictures (12)Biography
Clara Schwinning was born in 1992 in Hanover and grew up in Celle. After finishing school, she first studied English/American Studies and Business Administration in Mannheim and Ankara (Turkey), graduating in 2016. She went on to study acting at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Bochum from 2017 to 2021. During her training, she completed stage directing internships with Florian Fiedler at Schauspiel Hannover and Bernadette Sonnenbichler at Schauspiel Frankfurt. As an actor, she appeared in guest productions at the Tmu Na Theater in Tel Aviv and the Incubator Theater in Jerusalem. In Germany, she performed at the Nationaltheater Mannheim and Schauspielhaus Bochum.
While still a student, Schwinning co-founded the feminist collective Wilhelm & Stumpf with Nadja Bruder in 2021. With their Artist Diploma project "Ophelia," they received the Elke Twiesselmann Prize, awarded by the Acting Department at Folkwang University of the Arts to support young women artists exploring and advancing the female gaze on stage both thematically and aesthetically.
After graduating in 2021, Schwinning spent two years as a member of the ensemble at Stadttheater Ingolstadt, followed by engagements at Staatstheater Mainz and Theater Oberhausen.
Following appearances in several short films, Schwinning played her first leading role in a feature film in the idiosyncratic village milieu study "Ein schöner Ort" ("A Good Place," 2023). For this performance, she received the Golden Leopard for Best Performance at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival. She went on to star in another leading role in Julian Radlmaier's enigmatic tale of friendship, "Sehnsucht in Sangerhausen" ("Phantoms of July," 2025). Both films were released in German cinemas in November 2025.