Thomas Oswald, born 1980 in Seesen, studied film at the University of Fine Arts (HbfK) in Hamburg, where Wim Wenders was his professor. After graduating in 2008, he began working as a freelance cinematographer. His work ranges from commercials, music videos and short films to documentaries such as "Verborgene Welten 3D - Die Höhlen der Toten" ("Hidden Worlds 3D – Caves of the Dead", 2013) and "Unsere Erde, unsere Meere" (2014).  

Oswald made his first feature-length film as a director with the documentary "Im Mittelpunkt der Welt" (2014-2016). For the film he accompanied three young people from the German province for a year, who talk about their dreams and desires while also reflecting on their real prospects for the future.   

Thomas Oswald's other works as a cinematographer include the documentary "Warum lacht Herr W." ("Why is Mr. W. laughing?", 2017), about three artists with disabilities, and the feature film "Gasmann" (2019), about an actor in Hamburg whose life threatens to go off the rails in every way. He has also shot numerous commercials, including for Hamburg Marketing, Mercedes Benz, and FH Wedel.  

In 2019, Oswald began filming his second feature-length documentary as director and cinematographer: "Tics - Mit Tourette nach Lappland" accompanies several people with Tourette syndrome on their search for new forms of treatment, which takes them as far as Finland. The film was screened at the Nordic Film Days in Lübeck 2021, among other events, and was released in German cinemas in the summer of 2022.