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Sheldon Chau

Sheldon Chau

Cinematographer

Born in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles, Sheldon developed a passion for movies as a child when his dad brought home Jackie Chan films via a local laserdisc rental store. As a teenager, he discovered that movies went beyond entertainment when both his drama teacher and artist uncle recommended films from the Criterion Collection. After college, Sheldon made a short documentary in which he interviewed his father and learned of his parents’ harrowing journey out of Vietnam as boat people; this cemented his commitment to storytelling through filmmaking. Sheldon holds a BA from UC Irvine in Film Studies and an MFA from NYU Tisch in directing and cinematography. Sheldon’s work has screened at top festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Venice, and Berlin. His recent credits as cinematographer include Demba - which premiered at this year’s Berlinale; Nafi’s Father - Senegal’s official entry to the 2021 Oscars - and Enmity Djinn - an episode of Netflix’s African Folktales Reimagined anthology. Sheldon is the winner of the ARRI Volker Bahnemann Award for Cinematography, a Visual Communications AWC Fellow, and part of the ASC Vision Mentorship program. As a director, his short film Flying Eggs was a 2021 Slamdance Film Festival selection and latest work In Max We Trust can be seen on YouTube’s Omeleto short film channel. Sheldon has specialized in shooting internationally, working with diverse colleagues, and balancing both large- and guerrilla-sized crews. As a filmmaker, he continues to seek stories that are evocative, personal, and emotionally resonant.

Read more

Biography from TMDB.

Works as
Cinematographer
Titles
5 on MovieCove · 29 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 39 days to Oct 28Down 2% in 30 days

What are Sheldon Chau's films like?

Across a limited sample of 3 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Morality.

Themes

share of theme weight
Self
34%
Morality
28%
Bonds
17%
Society
14%
Power
7%
Identity2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 3 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 1 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 1

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 0 · Charged 3 · Intense 0

Shifting: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their shifting movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 1 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 0 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 0 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

A split, not a type: Resolved 2 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
3
Thrilling
1
Triumphant
1
Warm
1
Melancholic
1

How their films linger

Thought-provoking2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteBittersweet2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Sheldon Chau's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 5 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Prime Video (2).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Sheldon Chau's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

29 credits, 5 with a MovieCove page.

  • Private Property (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

    Cinematographer · Producer

  • Tamashi (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

    Cinematographer

  • Zi(2026)

    Additional Photography

    Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films

  • Two Old Women (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Cinematographer

  • Kannappa(2025)

    Cinematographer

    Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films

  • Pooja, Sir (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Cinematographer

  • stealing cars (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Cinematographer

  • Roots That Reach Toward The Sky (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)

    Cinematographer

  • Demba (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)

    Cinematographer

  • How to Ruin the Holidays(2023)

    "B" Camera Operator

    Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films

  • Subliminal (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)

    Cinematographer

  • Enmity Djinn (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)

    Cinematographer

  • Yokelan, 66 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)

    Cinematographer

  • A Small Dream (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)

    Cinematographer

  • In Max We Trust (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)

    Director

  • Mosagallu(2021)

    Cinematographer

    Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films

  • Nafi's Father (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

    Cinematographer

  • Summer Knight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

    Cinematographer

  • Flying Eggs (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Director

  • Nigerian Prince(2018)

    Cinematographer

    Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films

  • San Miguel (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Cinematographer

  • Fish Bones (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Cinematographer

  • Your Own Road (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Cinematographer

  • According to My Mother (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Cinematographer

  • Samedi Cinema (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Cinematographer

  • Jungle (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Cinematographer

  • Blitz (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)

    Cinematographer

  • The Stars The Sun The Moon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)

    First Assistant Camera

  • When the River Split Open (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Cinematographer

Career shape

A full career of 29 titles, 28 of them dated from 2014 to 2026.

Biggest box office

Kannappa (2025)

$147K worldwide

Highest rated

Kannappa (2025)

Midcredits 55th

Most popular right now

Nigerian Prince (2018)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Directing2 of 29: 2 only directing, 0 with another roleProducing1 of 29: 0 only producing, 1 with another roleCinematography24 of 29: 23 only cinematography, 1 with another roleOther crew3 of 29: 3 only other crew, 0 with another role

By decade

2010s12 · crew2020s16 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

How do Sheldon Chau's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 45th percentile, the median of all 5; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 11th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

11thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Approval · how many liked their films

85thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Reach · how many have seen their films

62ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Midcredits score across 5 titles, by percentile

  • 50th to 74th1
  • 25th to 49th4

Shape of the crowd

2 of their 5 titles are Cult Classics.

  • Universally Loved1
  • Divisive1
  • Cult Classic2
  • Mixed1

Most divisive · cinematographer

Mosagallu (2021)

91st percentile spread · 18% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · cinematographer

Kannappa (2025)

Midcredits 55th · 92% liked

Reviewers score the cinematography 60/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 70, detractors 43. The element that speaks to their work as a cinematographer.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Sheldon Chau work with?

People who share at least 2 of Sheldon Chau's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Kajal Aggarwal shares the most, 2.

Actors

Producers