Biography
Tom Tykwer (German: [ˈtɪkvɐ]; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing Run Lola Run (1998), Heaven (2002), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), and The International (2009).
Known For
Complete Filmography

The Light
2025
Producer, Screenplay, Director
A portrait of a modern family between collapse and new beginnings dealing with the big issues of our times, in a world that is reeling. Tim, Milena, t...

Looop Lapeta
2022
Original Story
When her boyfriend loses a mobster's cash, Savi races against the clock to save the day — if only she can break out of a curious cycle of dead ends.

The Matrix Resurrections
2021
Original Music Composer
Plagued by strange memories, Neo's life takes an unexpected turn when he finds himself back inside the Matrix.

Lusala
2019
Executive Producer
Lusala, adopted by an affluent Nairobi family a decade ago is imposed on to leave home and start on his own. Eager and willing at first, he makes the ...

Supa Modo
2018
Producer
Jo, a witty 9-year old terminally ill girl is taken back to her rural village to live out the rest of her short life. Her only comfort during these du...

A Hologram for the King
2016
Director, Screenplay, Original Music Composer
Alan Clay, a struggling American businessman, travels to Saudi Arabia to sell a new technology to the King, only to be challenged by endless Middle Ea...

Was heißt hier Ende? Der Filmkritiker Michael Althen
2015
as Self
Documentary about German film critic Michael Althen.

How I Learned to Love the Numbers
2014
as Self
How I Learned to Love the Numbers is a New York film and at the same time the study of a young man suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OC...

Something Necessary
2013
Producer
SOMETHING NECESSARY is an intimate moment in the lives of Anne and Joseph. A woman struggling to rebuild her life after the civil unrest that swept Ke...

Cloud Atlas
2012
Screenplay, Producer, Director
A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and con...

Rosakinder
2012
as Self
Five German directors celebrate the influence that famed filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim has had on their careers in honor of his 70th birthday. After di...

Rosakinder
2012
Director
Five German directors celebrate the influence that famed filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim has had on their careers in honor of his 70th birthday. After di...

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero
2011
Director
An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was ...

Three
2010
Screenplay, Director, Original Music Composer
Hanna and Simon are in a 20 year marriage with an unexciting relationship. By chance, they both meet and start separate affairs with Adam. Adam has no...

Soul Boy
2010
Producer, Supervising Technical Director
Abila (14) lives in one of the most miserable slums in Africa. His girlfriend Shiku belongs to a different tribe, as the result of which he is not rea...

On the Other Side of the Screen: 100 Years of Moviemento Cinema
2009
You say you’re interested in film and you’ve never been to the Moviemento? You are hereby put on cineastic probation – at least until you watch Bernd ...

Inglourious Basterds
2009
Thanks
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throug...

Germany ’09 – 13 Short Films About the State of the Nation
2009
Director
Thirteen German directors present short films exploring the state of their country.

The International
2009
Director, Original Music Composer
An interpol agent and an attorney are determined to bring one of the world's most powerful banks to justice. Uncovering money laundering, arms trading...
Michael Ballhaus - Eine Reise durch mein Leben
2008
as Self
Vera Tschechowa, actress and filmmaker and a close friend of Michael Ballhaus. One of Germany's stars of cinematography, embarks on the journey throug...
Auge in Auge - Eine deutsche Filmgeschichte
2008
as Self
This is not merely another film about cinema history; it is a film about the love of cinema, a journey of discovery through over a century of German f...

Critic
2008
as Self
Seventy critics and filmmakers discuss cinema around the conflict between the artist and the observer, the creator and the critic. Between 1998 and 20...

The Heart Is a Dark Forest
2007
Producer
A woman's life is destroyed when she discovers that her husband has another family.

A Friend of Mine
2006
Producer
An introverted insurance executive at a car rental service is annoyed by his hyperactive, garrulous coworker, but the two end up becoming friends.

Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin: From Schönhauser Allee to Hollywood
2006
as Himself
Featuring interviews with daughter Nicola Lubitsch, film historians Enno Patalas and Jan-Christopher Horak and filmmaker Tom Tykwer (among others), Er...

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
2006
Screenplay, Original Music Composer, Director
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born in the stench of 18th century Paris, develops a superior olfactory sense, which he uses to create the world's finest pe...

Paris Je T'aime
2006
Director, Music, Writer
Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories,...

Cinema 16: European Short Films (European Edition)
2006
Director
A collection of short films by 16 European directors.

Who is Helene Schwarz?
2005
as Self
Only the chosen few know this woman who started working as a secretary for the German Film and Television Academy (DFFB) on 13 February, 1966. The pat...

Downfall
2004
Thanks
In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking fr...

Soundless
2004
Producer
Viktor, a methodical hit man, probably on his last job, has no plan for his retirement. He does not kill Nina, a woman sleeping beside his latest mark...

True
2004
Director, Original Music Composer, Screenplay
While he's receiving an enigmatic phone call from his girlfriend Francine, Thomas remembers the milestones of their relationship, from the very moment...

Heaven
2002
Director
Cate Blanchett stars as Philippa, a British teacher living in Turin, Italy, who has seen many friends, including her husband, fall victim to drug over...

The Princess and the Warrior
2000
Screenplay, Director, Original Music Composer
Young nurse Sissi lives a secluded life entirely devoted to her patients at Birkenhof asylum. Her first encounter with ex-soldier and drifter Bodo has...

Gigantic
1999
Producer
The Hamburg friends Walter, Ricco and Floyd take each day as it comes between the estates of tower blocks and fast food restaurants. All three are in ...

Run Lola Run
1998
Director, Screenplay, Original Music Composer
Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. She has 20 minutes to raise ...

Wintersleepers
1997
Director, Screenplay, Original Music Composer
Young blonde translator Rebecca lives with her boyfriend ski instructor Marco in a mountain villa owned by her friend, nurse Laura. Rene, local cinema...

Life Is All You Get
1997
Screenplay
After he loses his job, his father, and his girlfriend, Jan's life is a shambles. Then suddenly he meets freakish street musician Vera, and a bittersw...

Deadly Maria
1993
Director, Screenplay, Original Music Composer
40-year Maria is living in a monotonous and deadlocked marriage with her husband. In addition, she has to take care of her ill despotic father. One da...

Epilog
1992
Director, Writer, Original Music Composer
A love story has come to its end. When a man steps into the room where his beloved one lives, she tells him to go and that she doesn't want to see him...

Because
1990
Director, Writer, Original Music Composer
Tanja and Martin are a couple in their late twenties. They meet back at their apartment late one evening, in bed. Weren’t we supposed to meet up this ...

Zyklopen-Uschi
1984
Assistant Camera
1998: After being committed to a drunkard's home by her friend Uschi, Edith is released 16 years later. Now she can finally take revenge on Uschi - by...
Man in Things
N/A
Director