Biography
Thorsten Ernst studied political science, philosophy and ethnology in Mainz, Aachen and Oldenburg. After graduating in 2007, he worked as a writer and editor. From 2009 to 2012, he was an editor at the Hamburg-based production company Signed Media, where he developed and supervised various TV formats and features ("Die KiKA Live Fußball-Show", "Queens of Pop - Finalshow"); he was also in charge of the editorial work for the Hamburg-produced editions of the Arte TV magazine "Tracks".
Since 2011, Ernst has been working as a freelance writer and director. Together with director Christoph Faulhaber, he wrote the concept for the award-winning documentary "Jedes Bild ist ein leeres Bild" (2014), a reflection on reality and identity in the global, digitalized world. For Arte/ZDF, Ernst made the documentary "Der digitale Patient" (2015); together with Steffanie Schäfer, he wrote and realized the two-part documentary "United Kingdom of Pop" (2017), about the major developments in British pop history over the last 60 years. He also produced the documentary "Africa Rising" (2019, together with Jean-Alexander Ntivyihabwa), about the newly awakened interest in the African continent in Europe and the USA, which can be seen in music and fashion styles, but also in the success of the superhero film "Black Panther".
Together with Tobias Lickes, Gordon Volk and Malte Nieschalk, Ernst made his first feature documentary in 2022: "All Inclusive", about four young athletes from Germany, Finland, Mongolia and Kenya, who all have a mental disability and are training to participate in the Special Olympics World Games 2023 in Berlin. The film was released theatrically June 2023.