Sitting in the back of the lighting truck on the set of ‘Awoken’
WHO AM I?
Michael Tessari is a South Australian Cinematographer working on narrative, commercials and music videos.
Recent work includes the sci-fi thriller Monolith (dir. Matt Vesely) which won an ACS Gold Award and was also honoured with a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize in Cinematography at the 2023 SXSW festival in Austin.
Early in his career Tessari was recognised by the Australian Cinematographers Society with the Cliff Ellis award for Emerging Cinematographer of the Year in 2013 and the Milton Ingerson award for the best in show, entry of the year, at the 2017 awards in South Australia.
Following this, Tessari has worked consistently on narrative long-form projects, with the horror film Awoken released theatrically in 2018 across North America and the rest of the world. The Netflix Original Series Gymnastics Academy followed and 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.
2023 ended with Tessari wrapping production on the Screen Australia financed feature, With or Without You (dir. Kelly Schilling) which is set to premiere in 2024.
AWARDS
* GRAND JURY NOMINATION for Best Cinematography - “Monolith”, SXSW Film Festival, Austin 2023*
*Winner of the MILTON INGERSON AWARD for Best Overall Entry in 2017, Australian Cinematographers Society Awards*
*Winner of the CLIFF ELLIS AWARD for student Cinematographer with the Most Potential in 2013, Australian Cinematographers Society Awards*
*GOLD AWARD for "Monolith", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Feature films under $3M*
*GOLD AWARD for "Awoken", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Feature films over $2M*
*BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY for “Music SA", Adelaide Advertising and Design Club - Craft*
*BEST DIRECTION for “Music SA", Adelaide Advertising and Design Club - Craft*
*BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY for "Tambo", Cinema Ticket International Film festival*
*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 "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 "MNDST", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising - Local*
*SILVER AWARD for "Music SA", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising - Local*
*SILVER AWARD for "City of Adelaide - City Living", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising - Local*
*SILVER AWARD for "Losing Breath- W.M.N", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Music 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 "Stuck In Time", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Documentary*
*BRONZE AWARD for "AMSA", Australian Cinematographers Society Awards - Advertising - Local*