Sven Kirsten

Person

Sven Kirsten

Camera 71 August 27, 1955

Hamburg, Germany

Sven Kirsten was born in 1955 in the port town of Hamburg, Germany. He was supposedly conceived on a freighter of his grandfather's Hamburg-Chicago line between America and German…

IMDb

Known for

Popular titles

Doppelganger

Doppelganger

4.8 1993 Movie
The Cowboy and the Frenchman

The Cowboy and the Frenchman

6.0 1988 Movie
Hardbodies

Hardbodies

4.8 1984 Movie
Slam Dance

Slam Dance

4.9 1987 Movie
Mistress

Mistress

5.4 1992 Movie
Tom Waits: Big Time

Tom Waits: Big Time

7.5 1988 Movie
Beyond Desire

Beyond Desire

4.7 1995 Movie
Teresa's Tattoo

Teresa's Tattoo

4.9 1994 Movie
Punk in London

Punk in London

6.7 1977 Movie
Play Time

Play Time

4.0 1995 Movie
Liquid Dreams

Liquid Dreams

4.6 1991 Movie
Roommate Wanted

Roommate Wanted

4.9 2002 Movie

Biography

A closer look

Read full biography

Sven Kirsten was born in 1955 in the port town of Hamburg, Germany. He was supposedly conceived on a freighter of his grandfather's Hamburg-Chicago line between America and Germany (those were long trips). The sailor's bars of the Reeperbahn red light district and the curiosities of the Hamburg Anthropology Museum formed the fertile soil to inspire Sven to follow the call to other distant shores in 1980. After a brief stint at the San Francisco Art Institute, he continued his education as cinematographer at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Here he fell in love with the aesthetic extremes of L.A. In parallel to lighting and shooting music videos and features with Tom Waits, Sergio Mendes or Robert De Niro, he began to pursue his hobby of urban archeology. Over the last ten years he has photographed and collected the remnants of the vanishing Tiki cult in America. He hopes that his Book of Tiki adequately represents the visual seductiveness of this unique, never-before-recognized facet of American pop culture. When not shooting cable TV movies in Europe, Sven lives with his 9 year old son, Diego, in his hilltop home overlooking the Silverlake reservoir in the center of Los Angeles.

Filmography

Movies and shows, newest first

  1. 2025
    Cabali And The Tiki Mug Obsession

    Movie Self

  2. 2025
    Bad Painter

    Movie Director of Photography

  3. 2015
    Kubanisch für Fortgeschrittene

    Movie Camera Operator

  4. 2012
    The DVD of Tiki Vol. 1 - Paradise Lost

    Movie Self

  5. 2011
    Biss zur großen Pause - Das Highschool Vampir Grusical

    Movie Director of Photography

  6. 2009
    Eine Liebe in St. Petersburg

    Movie Director of Photography

  7. 2004
    I Know What You Did Last Winter

    Movie Director of Photography

  8. 2003
    Mann gesucht, Liebe gefunden

    Movie Director of Photography

  9. 2002
    Roommate Wanted

    Movie Director of Photography

  10. 2002
    Love Crash

    Movie Director of Photography

  11. 2001
    Heart of Stone

    Movie Director of Photography

  12. 2001
    Welcher Mann sagt schon die Wahrheit?

    Movie Director of Photography

  13. 2001
    Dead Island: School's Out 2

    Movie Director of Photography

  14. 2000
    Die Traumprinzen

    Movie Director of Photography

  15. 2000
    Neonnächte - Der U-Bahn-Schlitzer

    Movie Director of Photography

  16. 1999
    School's Out

    Movie Director of Photography

More credits
  1. 1999
    7 Tage bis zum Glück

    Movie Director of Photography

  2. 1997
    Die sieben Feuer des Todes

    Movie Director of Photography

  3. 1997
    No Strings Attached

    Movie Additional Photography

  4. 1996
    Der Venusmörder

    Movie Director of Photography

  5. 1995
    Beyond Desire

    Movie Director of Photography

  6. 1995
    Play Time

    Movie Director of Photography

  7. 1994
    Teresa's Tattoo

    Movie Director of Photography

  8. 1993
    Doppelganger

    Movie Director of Photography

  9. 1992
    Mistress

    Movie Director of Photography

  10. 1991
    Liquid Dreams

    Movie Director of Photography

  11. 1988
    Tom Waits: Big Time

    Movie Camera Operator

  12. 1988
    The Cowboy and the Frenchman

    Movie Electrician

  13. 1987
    Slam Dance

    Movie Gaffer

  14. 1985
    Grottenolm

    Movie Director of Photography

  15. 1984
    Hardbodies

    Movie Electrician

  16. 1980
    Kortnergeschichten

    Movie Director of Photography

  17. 1980
    Women in Rock

    Movie Director of Photography

  18. 1977
    Punk in London

    Movie Director of Photography

  19. 1977
    Nur ein kleines bisschen Liebe

    Movie Client