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Nora Fingscheidt, born in Braunschweig in 1983, spent her school years in Braunschweig and Argentina. In 2003 she moved to Berlin, where she was involved as a board member in setting up the self-organized film school filmArche e.V.. Within this framework, she began to realize her first short films as a director, such as the 15-minute "Objet trouvé" (2005). At the same time, she completed training as an acting coach and gained practical experience as a recording supervisor and assistant director on various short films.
In 2008, Nora Fingscheidt began studying scenic directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Her 24-minute short film "Synkope" (2010), about an engagement party where family wounds are torn open, screened at the Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival and the Filmfest Dresden, among others. In 2012, she participated in the Berlinale Talents and visited UCLA in Los Angeles as part of an exchange program. There she shot the 15-minute documentary "Boulevard's End" (2014) about the Venice Pier in Venice Beach. The film screened at numerous international festivals.
Fingscheidt made her feature film debut while still a student, co-directing with Simone Gaul: the documentary "Das Haus neben den Gleisen" (2014) shows everyday life in a home for homeless women. In her graduation film "Ohne diese Welt" ("Without This World", 2017), Fingscheidt also observed life in an unusual social community: a small community of German-born Mennonites in Argentina who live as if in the 18th century. "Ohne diese Welt" won Best Documentary at both the First Steps Awards and the Max Ophüls Film Festival.
Nora Fingscheidt received several awards for the screenplay of her first feature-length film "Systemsprenger" ("System Crasher") even before it was realized: The Emder Drehbuchpreis 2016, the Kompagnon-Förderpreis at the Berlinale Talents 2017 and the Thomas Strittmatter Drehbuchpreis 2017. The film itself celebrated its world premiere in the competition of the Berlinale 2019 - with great success: the drama about a nine-year-old (Helena Zengel) who massively rebels against everything in foster families, residential groups and special schools because she wants to live with her mother again received rave reviews. In addition, "Systemsprenger" won the Alfred Bauer Prize as well as the prize of the readers' jury of the Berliner Morgenpost. Numerous other international festival participations and awards followed. For example, the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Molodist Film Festival in Kiev, the DEFA Foundation Sponsorship Prize, the FIPRESCI Critics' Prize as well as the main prize Flying Ox at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Film Art Festival, and the DGB Film Prize and others.
The film also entered the race for the "Oscars" for Germany. Even after its theatrical release in September 2019 with remarkable audience figures - by January 2020, the film had counted more than 600,000 moviegoers - the rain of awards continued, with a European Film Award for Best Music as well as the Bavarian Film Award for Best Production (ex aequo with "Das perfekte Geheimnis"). Systemsprenger" entered the race for the 2020 German Film Award with ten nominations - and won eight awards in a spectacular triumph, including Best Feature Film. Fingscheidt himself won the Lolas for Best Director and Best Screenplay.
In early 2020, filming began in Vancouver on Nora Fingscheidt's new project: a Netflix production starring Sandra Bullock and featuring Viola Davis and Vincent D'Onofrio in other roles. The drama, titled "The Unforgivable" is based on the British multi-part "The Unforgiven" (2009) penned by multi-award-winning screenwriter Sally Wainwright and is about a cop killer who, after being released from prison, wants to reconnect with her much younger sister, who was placed in foster care at the time. Following its theatrical release at the end of November 2021, the film was also released on the streaming platform shortly afterwards.