Stefan Haupt, born in 1961 in Zurich, Switzerland, first trained as a teacher before studying theatre education at the Schauspiel-Akademie Zürich (1985–1988). In 1989, he began working as a freelance director and producer.  

His first feature film, the coming-of-age story "Utopia Blues" (CH 2001), won both the Screenplay Award and the Interfilm Award at the 2002 Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival, and went on to receive the Swiss Film Award for Best Feature Film. His second feature, "Moritz" (CH 2003) — the story of a ten-year-old boy who, during his mother's illness, is cared for by a gay couple, much to the dismay of local authorities and villagers — was also shown at several festivals.  

A major success followed with "Elisabeth Kübler-Ross" (CH 2003), a documentary about the renowned researcher on death and dying. The film attracted over 300,000 viewers across Europe and was nominated for Best Documentary at the Swiss Film Awards. His next documentary, "Ein Lied für Argyris" ("A Song For Argyris," CH 2006), portraying the life of Argyris Sfountouris, a survivor of the 1944 Distomo massacre, was likewise nominated for Best Documentary.  

From 2008 to 2010, Haupt served as president of the Association of Film Directors and Screenwriters Switzerland, and from 2007 to 2012 he was a member of the board of trustees of Swiss Films.

Further documentaries include "Child's Dream – Zwei Banker auf Sinnsuche" (CH 2012), about two bankers who dedicate themselves to helping underprivileged children in Southeast Asia, and "Sagrada" (CH 2012), a film exploring Barcelona's iconic Sagrada Família.  

Haupt achieved particular acclaim with the feature film "Der Kreis" ("The Circle," CH 2014), which tells the story of the rise and decline of Zurich's gay organization and magazine of the same name that championed the rights of homosexuals between 1943 and 1967. Premiering in the Panorama section of the 2014 Berlinale, the film won both the Teddy Award and the Panorama Audience Award. At the Swiss Film Awards, "Der Kreis" was honored as Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor (Sven Schelker). It was also selected as Switzerland's submission for the 2015 Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.  

His historical drama "Zwingli. Der Reformator" ("The Reformer. Zwingli: A Life's Portrait," CH/DE 2018), about the reformer Ulrich Zwingli, became the most successful Swiss film of 2019 and received multiple awards. In recognition of the film, Haupt was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Theology at the University of Zurich.  

After two further documentary projects — "Zürcher Tagebuch" (2020) and "Margreet Honig – Der freie Ton" (2023) — Haupt premiered his star-studded adaptation of Max Frisch's "Stiller" ("I'm not Stiller", DE/CH 2025) at the Munich Film Festival 2025. The film was released in German cinemas in October 2025.