Michael Marius Pessah

Award-winning cinematographer Michael Marius Pessah, ASC is known for his work in both scripted and documentary filmmaking. His bold imagery and use of light has been noted to combine an avant-garde sensibility with classic visual storytelling. Michael began his education interning with top commercial DP's as an assistant at Curious Pictures in New York. Later he earned a B.A. at Hampshire College-where he was a Kodak Cinematography Scholarship award finalist-and received an M.F.A. in Cinematography at the AFI. Early in his career, Outfest named Michael a 'Five in Focus' emerging talent for his cinematography in Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean, making him the first cinematographer to receive that recognition-and he is one of the few contemporary cinematographers to have photographed multiple black and white features. Michael has shot spots for global brands such as Ralph Lauren, AT&T, Ford, Spyder, Pfizer, Red Bull and Anheuser-Busch. His spot for TCL with Giannis Antetokounmpo aired during the 2019 Super Bowl. The film 'Arthur Schnabel, No Place of Exile' was chosen to be screened at the Library of congress in 2018, and 'Viva la Causa' was shortlisted for an Academy Award. In other platforms, his collaboration with the photographer Melanie Pullen can be seen in the book 'XY', published by Kodansha. His collaboration with the visual artist Jen DeNike was selected to be part of the official program in the 2017 Art Basel, Miami.Michael has filmed music videos for artists ranging from Halsey to Five Finger Death Punch. The video he DP'd for 'Wrong Side of Heaven' won 'Best Rock Video of 2015' from Loudwire. He was invited to be a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) in 2020.