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Michael Fimognari is an American director, producer, and cinematographer of feature films and television, best known for his work on the TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE trilogy and his long collaboration with filmmaker Mike Flanagan.

 

A graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Fimognari directed an Emmy Award-winning short before beginning his career as a cinematographer for independent features. His work in varied genres includes Julia Hart’s sci-fi drama FAST COLOR, Shawn Ku’s TIFF Critics Prize winner BEAUTIFUL BOY, and Ry Russo-Young’s YA fantasy melodrama BEFORE I FALL.

 

Fimognari's holistic and character-first philosophy attracted Flanagan and producer Trevor Macy, who enrolled him to bring a humanistic visual approach to their horror indie OCULUS, and he was asked to do the same for Jason Blum, Matt Kaplan, and Robyn Marshall on THE LAZARUS EFFECT. Both films found success in wide theatrical releases and began long and continuing partnerships. 

 

In 2018 Fimognari's cinematography re-defined rom-com visual aesthetic on the Netflix hit TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE, and two months later his work was showcased in another Netflix breakout, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. He lensed all 10 episodes, including one comprised of five single shots, attracting the praise of critics and fans for its temporal and technical complexity. Fimognari immediately teamed again with Flanagan for Warner Brothers’ DOCTOR SLEEP (Stephen King’s sequel to THE SHINING).

 

In the years since, Fimognari has been prolific in his work as a director, producer, and cinematographer. His directorial productions include the second and third features in the TO ALL THE BOYS trilogy (P.S. I STILL LOVE YOU and ALWAYS AND FOREVER); four (of eight) episodes for THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (while also executive producing and shooting the entire series); and two episodes of the YA creeper THE MIDNIGHT CLUB.

 

Fimognari and his films/television productions have been nominated for and won numerous awards, including Best Movie at the MTV Movie & TV Awards for TO ALL THE BOYS: ALWAYS AND FOREVER. He is an active member of the Directors Guild of America and the International Cinematographers Guild.

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WORDS ABOUT PICTURES

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Michael Fimognari (who also helmed the upcoming third feature in the franchise, “To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean”) expands out the reach and emotions of the story to make a sequel that’s bigger and better than its delightful predecessor.  “P.S. I Still Love You” effectively operates as both its own feature and a bridge to the more adult questions Lara Jean and company will face in the final offering. It’s a love letter to teen movies of the past, but also a smart look at what they might be in the future.

Kate Erbland

IndieWire

While Michael Fimognari’s film does have some heart-fluttery moments—chiefly the first reappearance of heartthrob Peter (Noah Centineo), framed in a doorway and blessed with a nice winter jacket and a crooked smile—what’s more arresting is its gentle wisdom about all the stuff that happens after the swoon. The second part of a trilogy (the third film has already been shot and will be released later this year), P.S. I Still Love You is able to dwell in a credibly confused middle place, where the rapid blushes of teen romance must contend with all the restlessness, uncertainty, and selfishness of adolescence.

Richard Lawson

Vanity Fair

P.S. I Still Love You excellently and naturally builds off the story of To All the Boys, continuing to depict Lara Jean's coming of age as she learns the difference between fantasy and reality when it comes to love and relationships. The sequel leans less on voiceover to immerse viewers in Lara Jean's innermost thoughts and feelings, showing a maturity in allowing Michael Fimognari's directing the actors' performances to do more of the heavy lifting. Much like its main character, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You is so sweetly, openly earnest in its love of love that it transcends cheesiness and gives viewers permission to indulge in unabashed intimacy and romance for its entire one hour and 40-minute runtime.

Molly Freeman

Screen Rant

It feels like the kind of movie you wish they made more often for all the boys, and girls, still figuring out who they are — especially the ones who don’t tend to see themselves nearly enough on screen: a reflection shinier than real life maybe, but generous and good-hearted to the core.

Leah Greenblatt

Entertainment Weekly

Doctor Sleep shows considerable effort to ingratiate itself to discerning cinephiles, from the moody Newton Brothers score to cinematographer Michael Fimognari’s dark blue nighttime palette; as a whole, the movie conjures an eerie and wondrous atmosphere that blends abject terror with a somber, mournful quality unique to Flanagan’s oeuvre. 

Eric Kohn

IndieWire

Cinematographer Michael Fimognari (The Haunting of Hill House) keeps finding new ways to make simple moments dynamic and let familiar images from The Shining get under our skin in whole new ways. 

William Bibbiani

Bloody Disgusting

All this unfolds against a backdrop of post-apocalyptic drought and poverty, beautifully shot in New Mexico by cinematographer Michael Fimognari, and with skillfully integrated visual effects that, along with Rob Simonsen’s gorgeous score, build to startling moments of visual and melodic ecstasy.

Justin Chang

Los Angeles Times

Moody and strange, “Fast Color” has a solemnity that haunts almost every frame. Shot in New Mexico, Michael Fimognari’s images are wide and graceful, with skies that stretch the edges of the screen and desert landscapes of deep, sweeping barrenness....  the finesse of the camera work a constant pleasure. 

Jeannette Catsoulis

New York Times

The sense of grandeur that Fast Color possesses comes from just how rewardingly the story unfolds, as well as how gorgeous it is in every respect. Cinematographer Michael Fimognari evokes the very best road movies and westerns in the way he captures the vistas of the nameless swath of middle America in which the film takes place.

Karen Han

Polygon

10 Emmy Nomination Wishes: Michael Fimognari - Outstanding cinematography in a limited series or movie.  Look, sometimes we're all just suckers for an extended tracking shot and if you like your cinematography ambitious and attention-grabbing, it doesn't get much better than Fimognari's work in the "Two Storms" episode of this Netflix haunted house saga.

Daniel Fienberg

The Hollywood Reporter

Many factors set the episode apart, including time jumping between past and present scenes and top-notch cinematography. "Two Storms" uses an 18-minute long take that travels with the characters, ducking and weaving around them and throughout the funeral home. This builds a sense of escalating tension which heightens both the emotional resonance and the sense of dread over the threats to the siblings. The result is one of the strongest episodes of the year in any genre.

Jeff Ewing

Forbes

The atmospheric cinematography is immersive, and while the two timelines have a slightly different aesthetic, they both feel like they’re part of the same story.

Adam Chitwood

Collider

To All the Boys is filled with sweet, endearing moments to melt the iciest of hearts. And if that isn't your thing (really though, give it a shot, you'll be surprised), the stunning cinematography and indie soundtrack is unbelievable too.

Philiana Ng

Entertainment Tonight

The diverse, authentic cast and the beautiful cinematic shots showcasing a realistic coming of age story that deals with problems we all face is exactly the direction Hollywood should be taking from now on. 

Liz-Maria Jose

Affinity Magazine

High marks go to the cinematography by Michael Fimognari, a sublime blend of capitalizing on the region’s haunted beauty and the occasional non-naturalistic touch that keeps Sam’s journey firmly in the realm of unease. 

Robert Abele

The Wrap

Shot in lovely, moody shades of gray, by cinematographer Michael Fimognari.

Justin Chang

Los Angeles Times

Together, director Ry Russo-Young and cinematographer Michael Fimognari come up with some breath-catching scenes that take full advantage of the story’s almost mystical Pacific Northwest locale for a movie that never sells its teen audiences short.

April Wolfe

LA Weekly

Michael Fimognari’s elegant deep-focus camerawork blends a nostalgic feel with contemporary technology and builds tension with disturbing bits of business unfolding in the background or extreme foreground of scenes. 

Geoff Berkshire

Variety

Director Mike Flanagan and cinematographer Michael Fimognari have crafted a beautiful piece of theatrical horror.

Scott Mendelson

Forbes

Even when you want to avert your eyes, you can’t. That’s in part because of Michael Fimognari’s impeccable cinematography. On a streak with modern genre (he also recently shot “Oculus,” “Beautiful Boy,” and “The Lazarus Effect”), Fimognari brings such a tasteful, sumptuous touch to “Ouija.” 

Sam Fragoso

The Wrap

The visually sumptuous film, featuring Michael Fimognari's autumnal cinematography and Patricio M. Farrell's perfectly vintage-looking sets and costumes, actually appears to date from the period in which it's set.

Frank Scheck

The Hollywood Reporter

There are long, beautiful, continuous shots, with the camera (cinematography by Michael Fimognari) sometimes gliding past the actors, as if in search of another plot twist.

Chuck Wilson

The Village Voice

The smooth, supple lensing of Michael Fimognari amps the tension appreciably in key scenes, most notably when the camera gracefully glides, then remains tightly fixed, to isolate a character speaking with, or reacting to, someone else.

Joe Leydon

Variety

...a carefully paced, superbly photographed psychological thriller in which the villain is a sadistic and very patient entity that seems to revel in playing excruciatingly elaborate mind games before exacting its bloody toll.

Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

“Oculus” is a creepy instant classic.  The Newton Brothers’ unsettling score and Michael Fimognari’s ominous cinematography contribute to the aura of grotesque menace.

Colin Covert

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Visually the film is extremely strong...  Like the mirror itself, the images and Michael Fimognari’s camera suck us in, the camera moves deft, the compositions inviting.

Jason Gorber

Twitchfilm

​Beautiful Boy has a gorgeously textured, almost dreamy aesthetic, its close-ups milky and profoundly patient. Michael Fimognari's hand-held camera moves without jarring jumps or neck-twisting angles, while the story unwinds without explanations or moral lectures...

Jeanette Catsoulis

NPR

The work of cinematographer Michael Fimognari, who also did an impressive job with the low-budget frat hazing thriller Brotherhood, unexpectedly leads to the film's bravura moment...

Stephen Saito

IFC

Michael Fimognari's documentary-like strategy ably serves the material as he favors penetrating close-ups, shots through doorways, handheld cameras, nervous camera movements and skewed angles that convey the domestic Petri dish that harbors so much tragedy.

Doris Toumarkine

Film Jornal International

The sense of claustrophobic intimacy is greatly enhanced by Michael Fimognari's hand-held cinematography, which, appropriately enough, often has the skittish quality of lensing in a verite documentary.

Joe Leydon

Variety

Cinematographer Fimognari's shaky camera frequently follows them, and stays very close in.  There is a certain beauty to this approach - otherwise unenticing suburban backdrops and house interiors become gorgeously abstracted...

Howard Feinstein

Screen Daily

Helping to frame the experience is the excellent cinematography on display that adds even more depth to the themes... Of note is a hotel scene in which we are in the middle of a heated exchange between Bill and Kate and given one camera to flit between each person as they revolve around the room.  The dizzying spectacle left me breathless...

Bill Graham

Collider

The nocturnal yet jazzily lit cinematography is composed of peppy short cuts while the camera often remains stationary or slow moving before ending in a dazzling track in the bookstore with the rhythm of a dance.

Maggie Lee

The Hollywood Reporter

Working with American d.p. Michael Fimognari and American-Chinese jazz composer Hsu Wen, Chen evokes a romantic, borderline unreal Taipei in which anything is possible.

Derek Elley

Variety

The vivacious cinematography basks the city in opulent colors, while briskly moving scenes accelerate the plot at an energetic pace.

Ho Yi

Taipei Times

Propelled by a likeable cast, imaginative cinematography by Michael Fimognari, and mostly believable situations, the film is likely to resonate for anyone who was ever a teenager.

James Greenberg

The Hollywood Reporter

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