Thorsten Thielow

Movies

Whatever it Takes
Director of Photography
In the summer of 2019, a middle-aged couple are subjected to cyberstalking threats and bizarre deliveries including a bloody pig mask and funeral wreath. As the harassment intensifies, the police and FBI close in on a Silicon Valley giant and some very unlikely suspects. "Whatever It Takes" tells the extraordinary story of eBay, a Fortune 500 company founded on the principle that "people are basically good”, and how members of their security team ended up in federal prison after trying to protect the CEO from a corporate raider.
American Symphony
Director of Photography
Musician Jon Batiste attempts to compose a symphony as his wife, writer Suleika Jaouad, undergoes cancer treatment.
The Mission
Director of Photography
American Christian missionary John Chau was murdered when he tried to illegally contact and convert some of the world’s last uncontacted indigenous people. Through exclusive interviews and archival footage of John’s journey, THE MISSION explores themes that strike deep at the heart of religion, colonialism, and anthropology, questioning where we draw the line between faith and fanaticism, exploration and exploitation, imagination and destruction.
The First Wave
Cinematography
When Covid-19 hit New York City in 2020, filmmaker Matthew Heineman gained unique access to one of New York’s hardest-hit hospital systems. The resulting film focuses on the doctors, nurses, and patients on the frontlines during the “first wave” from March to June 2020. Their distinct storylines each serve as a microcosm to understand how the city persevered through the worst pandemic in a century
Mayor Pete
Cinematography
Pete Buttigieg, the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana runs for President of the United States. With extraordinary access to the candidate, his husband Chasten and member of the campaign team, the film follows Buttigieg from before he officially announced his candidacy, through the campaign and his victory in the Iowa Caucus and his appointment to the Biden Administration as the first LGBTQ Cabinet member in history.
ariana grande: excuse me, i love you
Cinematography
Ariana Grande takes the stage in London for her Sweetener World Tour and shares a behind-the-scenes look at her life in rehearsal and on the road.
Boys State
Director of Photography
In an unusual experiment, a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
This Is Personal
Director of Photography
While the 2016 election catalyzed the Women’s March and a new era of feminist activism, Tamika Mallory and Erika Andiola have been fighting for their communities for decades. Their stories expose the fundamental connection between personal and political and raise the question: what's intersectionality and can it save the world?
Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind
Director of Photography
A funny, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians, Robin Williams, told largely through his own words. Celebrates what he brought to comedy and to the culture at large, from the wild days of late-1970s L.A. to his death in 2014.
Water & Power: A California Heist
Director of Photography
Uncovering the profiteering of the state's water barons and how they affect farmers, average citizens, and unincorporated towns throughout California.