Sion Michel

Sion Michel
Sion Michel at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025
Born
United States
Alma materM.A. in Cinematography, Australian Film, Television and Radio School (1992)
OccupationsCinematographer, photographer
WebsiteOfficial website

Sion Michel is an American cinematographer known for his feature film and commercial work.

Education

Sion Michel was born in the United States, and has also spent much of his life in Australia.[1] He was educated at the Australian Film Television and Radio School's Masters Program in Cinematography, receiving an M.A. in Cinematography in 1992.[2] He has been actively working in cinematography and photography since the 1990s. He is an accredited member of the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) and is currently based in Los Angeles.[1]

Career

Sion Michel has been an active cinematographer in the film industry since 1986.[3] Michel was cinematographer for films such as The Old Way,[4] Sons of the Neon Night, Heartfall Arises,[5] Shanghai Noir, and Like a Dream, which he was nominated for best cinematography at the 46th Golden Horse Awards in 2009.[6] Other production roles include cinematography work for the films Chasing Rabbits,[7] WPPI 2013,[8] and Laura Smiles.[9]

Michel has lensed feature films, music videos, commercials, and various documentaries. In 2002, he lensed the BBC documentary series Beyond the Fatal Shore, filmed across Australia, which received a British Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography in 2002. Michel was 2nd unit Director of Photography on Memoirs of a Geisha, which was honored with the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 2006. Most recently, he collaborated with cinematographer Dion Beebe on Michael, to be released in April 2026.[10]

Michel founded the film production company Mettafilm in 2005, where he currently serves as Director of Photography.[1][11]

His work includes the ensemble romance Hot Summer Days (2010), co-directed by Tony Chan and Wing Shya, which became the number one box office hit in China during the Chinese New Year; Beijing, New York (2015), directed by Rain Li; The Unbearable Lightness of Inspector Fan (2015), directed by Clara Law; and; Heartfall Arises (2016), directed by Ken Wu. He also lensed the Western thriller The Old Way (2023) for Saban Films and Lionsgate, directed by Brett Donowho and starring Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage.[12]

In 2025, his work Sons of the Neon Night screened at the Cannes Film Festival, premiering in the Midnight Screenings section. The film was directed by Juno Mak and starred Takeshi Kaneshiro, Sean Lau, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Louis Koo, and Gao Yuanyuan.[13][14][15]

Selected filmography

Sion Michel's selected cinematography credits include:[16][3]

Year Title Director
2000 Australia: Beyond the Fatal Shore Chris Spencer
2001 Sydney 2000: Stories of Olympic Glory Bud Greenspan
2005 Laura Smiles Jason Ruscio
2007 The Box A.J. Kparr
2009 Like a Dream Clara Law
2010 Hot Summer Days[17][18] Tony Chan and Wing Shya
2015 The Unbearable Lightness of Inspector Fan
(Shanghai Noir)		 Clara Law
2016 Heartfall Arises[19] Wu Pinru
2023 The Old Way Brett Donowho
2025 Sons of the Neon Night Juno Mak
2026 Michael Antoine Fuqua

Award nominations

Sion Michel's cinematography work for Beyond The Fatal Shore, Tony Bennett: An American Classic, and Like a Dream have been nominated for various awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award and BAFTA Film Awards.[3][20]

Michel also received two Silver Awards from the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) in 2012 for Julia Stone's By the Horns and Angus Stone's Bird on the Buffalo. In 2014, he won the Silver Telly, the top honor at the 35th Annual Telly Awards, for best direction and cinematography on WPPI 2013 in the Live Event category. His portrait Sarah earned recognition as a Single Image Winner in the "Children" category by Black & White Magazine in 2017.[26]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Sion Michel". Australian Cinematographers Society. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  2. ^ "Sion Michel". Angel.
  3. ^ a b c "Sion Michel". Production Hub.
  4. ^ DP, Wandering (February 7, 2023). "The Wandering DP Podcast: Episode #370 – Sion Michel ACS".
  5. ^ "Heartfall Arises". Australian Cinematography Magazine. December 1, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  6. ^ Chu, Karen (October 7, 2009). "'Like a Dream' leads Golden Horse noms". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  7. ^ Hardy, Peter. "Chasing Rabbits". Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  8. ^ "WPPI 2013: The Movie!". Rangefinder. April 18, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  9. ^ Seitz, Matt Zoller (July 27, 2007). "A Life Derailed: Laura Smiles". The New York Times. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  10. ^ "Dion Beebe on Capturing Michael's Story for the Big Screen". July 9, 2025.
  11. ^ "Sion Michel". LinkedIn. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  12. ^ "about". sion michel acs.
  13. ^ Rolph, Ben (October 8, 2025). ""SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT" - Review". Next Best Picture.
  14. ^ LAMBERT →, Voir les articles de Frédérique (May 17, 2025). "Cannes 2025 (Projections de minuit) – Juno Mak – « Son of the Neon Night »".
  15. ^ "SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT | HIFF | Hawai'i International Film Festival".
  16. ^ "Sion Michel". IMDb.
  17. ^ "Hot Summer Days". Far East Film Festival 21. 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  18. ^ Hardy, Ernest (October 7, 2010). "Hot Summer Days". LA Weekly. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  19. ^ "Tense moments in 'Heartfall Arises' – DOP Sion Michel ACS". Australian Cinematographer. January 15, 2018. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  20. ^ "Sion Michel, Director of Photography" (PDF). findfilmwork.com. April 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  21. ^ "Interview with Director of Photography Sion Michel". Panasonic. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  22. ^ "The 2007 Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations". Coming Soon. July 19, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  23. ^ "NBC Scores Big at Primetime Emmy Nominations with 69". The Futon Critic. July 19, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  24. ^ "Emmy nominations list – part II". Variety. July 18, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  25. ^ "Like A Dream, No Puedo lead Golden Horse race". Screen Daily. October 7, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  26. ^ "Sarah by Sion Michel | Black & White Magazine | For Collectors of Fine Photography". Black & White.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sion_Michel