Australian cinematographer Stefan Duscio is characterised by fluid camera movements and masterful use
of light. His authentic and innovative approach to cinematic naturalism has made him a highly regarded
collaborator of directors such as Robert Connolly, Leigh Whannell, JD Dillard and Mirrah Foulkes.
Recently, he shot the Apple TV+ series SHANTARAM produced by Paramount and Anonymous, and
executive producer Steve Lightfoot and director Bharat Nalluri. Duscio rose to the challenge of
marshalling multiple large-scale units across Melbourne, Bangkok and Mumbai in 2021-2022. The 12-
episode adaptation of Gregory David Roberts’ novel Shantaram premiered in October 2022.
In 2022, Duscio won the Gold Tripod for Best Cinematography in a feature film for THE DRY (2020) and
the prestigious Milli Award for the ACS Australian Cinematographer of the Year.
In the narrative realm, Duscio collaborated with filmmaker Aaron Wilson to shoot the wartime drama
CANOPY (2013) in Singapore. He followed this with GALORE (2013), the debut feature film by Rhys Graham
which earned Duscio his first Gold Award at the ACS Awards for Best Cinematography.
This started him on a string of films including: Angus Sampson’s The Mule, which premiered at South-by-Southwest in 2014; Backtrack (2015) alongside director Michael Petroni and starring Adrian Brody; Greg McLean’s JUNGLE (2017) and Leigh Whannell’s cult hit UPGRADE (2018).
He later returned to independent work with Mirrah Foulkes’ JUDY AND PUNCH (nominated for a Grand Jury
Prize at Sundance Film Festival in 2019) and then launched into Leigh Whannell’s THE INVISIBLE MAN
(2020), a science fiction thriller based on a novel by HG Wells starring Elizabeth Moss, for which Duscio
won the Australian Academy of Cinematography Award. The Invisible Man earned the top spot at the
worldwide box office in 2020 for two weeks.
In addition, he has shot hundreds of commercials and music videos, including music videos for
Beyonce’s MINE and GHOST from her 2013 self-titled visual album.
Growing up in rural Australia, Duscio developed an early interest in photography and visual
storytelling studying Media Arts at RMIT University in Melbourne. From there he landed his first job
in the camera department for the Lord of the Rings trilogy in New Zealand with Oscar-winning
cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. He continued working in Australia as a camera assistant with
young directors and cinematographers, including Greig Fraser, Germain McMicking, Ari Wegner
and Adam Arkapaw.
