Thomas Arslan was born on July 16 1962 in Braunschweig. The son of a German-Turkish couple grew up in Essen and Ankara. Following his graduation from school, he studied German Literature in Munich, and later enrolled at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie in Berlin, where he majored in direction. Since 1992, he is working as a freelance screenwriter and director.

In 1994, his feature film debut "Mach die Musik leiser" was released. This was followed by a trilogy of films – "Geschwister – Kardesler" (1996), "Dealer" (1999) and "Der schöne Tag" (2001) – which reflects upon the different experiences of people of Turkish descent living in Berlin. Arslan employs long takes and a detached, documentary-like approach in his portrayals of everyday life. He mostly eschews folkloristic details and does not focus on the nationality of his characters, whose problems do not primarily stem from the fact that they are of foreign descent. "Dealer" premiered at the 1999 Berlinale Forum and was won the FIPRESCI award and the Award of the Ecumenical Jury.

Following the documentary "Aus der Ferne" (2006) about Arslan's travels through Turkey, he directed the intimate drama "Ferien", which saw its premiere at the 2007 Berlinale Panorama. In 2010 he presented "Im Schatten" at the festival. The unique gerne film follows a gangster, who resumes his criminal career after being just released from prison.

Following this critically acclaimed gangster film, Arslan takes on another classic genre, the Western: Set in the year 1898 and featuring Nina Hoss, "Gold" tells the story of a group of German immigrants who travel from New York to the newfound gold fields in the Canadian Yukon territory. Arslan's film was selected for the competition of the 2013 Berlin IFF.

His next film "Helle Nächte" ("Bright Nights", 2017), a road movie located in the Norwegian wild that examines a dysfunctional father-son relationship, was selected for the Berlin IFF's competition four years later. Georg Friedrich who stars as the father Michael was awarded a Silver Bear for Best Actor.

In October 2022, Arslan began shooting his next feature film: "Verbrannte Erde" ("Scorched Earth"), the sequel to the gangster film "Im Schatten" and the second part of a planned trilogy, premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale 2024.