Malene Schjønning is a Danish filmmaker and editor working between Copenhagen and New York City. Her work focuses on narrative, rhythm, and performance in editing, with particular attention to how meaning emerges between images and through the relationship between image and sound.
She holds an MFA in Post-Production from the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Brooklyn College. Her short film New Beginning received awards at International Film Festival, and she is a recipient of the New York Women in Film & Television Emerging Female Filmmaker Award. Her work has screened internationally, including at the New York Short Film Festival, the 40 NORTH International Dance Film Festival, and the Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival.
Before transitioning into filmmaking, she had an extensive career as a dancer, performing at the Royal Danish Theatre and on Danish National Television. She trained at LABAN in London and at the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio in New York. This background continues to inform her approach to editing, with a focus on rhythm, movement, and physical presence.
Currently completing the short film Chase.
Selected work can be found on IMDb.
Contra Shock
Producer · Cinematographer · Editor, 2018
Excerpts from Contra Shock were exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York as part of Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor (April 2025 – February 2026).