Sitting in the back of the lighting truck on the set of ‘Awoken’
Michael Tessari is an Australian Cinematographer working on narrative films, commercials and music videos.
Recently released work includes the sci-fi thriller Monolith (dir. Matt Vesely) which won a National ACS Award of Distinction and was also honoured with a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize in Cinematography at the 2023 SXSW festival in Austin.
Tessari has consistently worked on successful narrative long-form projects, with the horror film Awoken released theatrically across North America and the rest of the world. The Netflix Original Series Gymnastics Academy which trended at number 1 across multiple countries, and the aforementioned sci-fi thriller Monolith, had a successful festival run across the world at SXSW, AFF, FreightFest, Bifan, MIFF and Sitges to name a few.
In the 12 months Tessari has lensed the Screen Australia financed drama, With or Without You (dir. Kelly Schilling). The horror film Diabolic (dir. Daniel Phillips) and the action film The Run (dir. Stephen De Villiers). All of which are yet to be released. Additionally this year Tessari was honoured to be listed in IF Magazine’s 2024 Rising Talent List.
AWARDS
*IF MAGAZINE RISING TALENT 2024*
*Winner of the MILTON INGERSON AWARD for Best Overall Entry in 2017, Australian Cinematographers Society Awards*
*NATIONAL AWARD OF DISTINCTION - “MONOLITH”, NATIONAL ACS AWARDS, FEATURE FILMS UNDER $2M*
*GRAND JURY NOMINATION for Best Cinematography - “Monolith”, SXSW Film Festival, Austin 2023*
*Winner of the CLIFF ELLIS AWARD for Cinematographer with the Most Potential, Australian Cinematographers Society Awards*
*GOLD AWARD for "With or Without You", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Feature films under $3M*
*GOLD AWARD for "Awoken", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Feature films over $2M*
*GOLD AWARD for "MONOLITH", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Feature films UNDER $2M*
*BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY for “Music SA", Adelaide Advertising and Design Club - Craft*
*BEST DIRECTION for “Music SA", Adelaide Advertising and Design Club - Craft*
*GOLD AWARD for "Freezing Point - Uni SA", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Corporate/educational*
*BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY for "In the Wake", Soul Punch Film Festival*
*GOLD AWARD for "In the Wake", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Short Films*
*GOLD AWARD for "City of Adelaide - Creative City", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising - Local*
*GOLD AWARD for "Release", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Short Films*
*GOLD AWARD for "BlackChrome", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising (National / International)*
*GOLD AWARD for "Isis", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Student Cinematography*
*SILVER AWARD for "SAPOL - Flirting with Death", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising - Local*
*SILVER AWARD for "Flinders University", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising - Local*
*SILVER AWARD for "RSL - ARVL", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising - Local*
*SILVER AWARD for "University of SA", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising - National*
*SILVER AWARD for "Losing Breath- W.M.N", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Music Video*
*SILVER AWARD for “City Living", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Corporate Video*
*BRONZE AWARD for "Health Partners", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising National*
*BRONZE AWARD for "Gymnastics Academy", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - TV SERIES*
*BRONZE AWARD for "AMSA", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising (Local / Regional)*
*BRONZE AWARD for "Stuck In Time", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Documentary*