Bio
Director of photography Joe Passarelli’s feature film, Anomalisa, premiered at the 2015 Telluride Film Festival before taking home the Grand Jury Prize at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival. It quickly gained praise for its stunning visuals and Joe’s ability to make an animated film feel like a narrative feature. Based on a play of the same name by writer/co-director Charlie Kaufman, the stop-motion story follows the poignant story of Michael Stone (David Thewlis) and his relationship with Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh). The critically acclaimed film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2016.
Joe recently completed photography on the feature film The Actor, collaborating again with Anomalisa co-director, Duke Johnson. Adapted from the novel Memory by Donald E. Westlake, the film tells the story of Paul Cole (André Holland), a New York actor who loses his memory and tries to make his way home after being beaten up and left for dead in 1950’s Ohio. The Actor is being released by NEON Films in early 2024.
Joe was the series cinematographer on AMC’s, Ultra City Smiths, by creator Steven Conrad, following the investigation into the disappearance of Ultra City's most famous magnate by two intrepid detectives who also happen to be baby dolls. He also lensed the Emmy Award winning episode of Fox’s Cosmos: Possible Worlds “Vavilov”, which follows Russian scientist Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov as he pioneer’s genetics.
Joe graduated from Columbia College Chicago, studying on the set of The Weatherman under cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, ASC, and furthered his studies in cinematography at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He is a dual citizen of both the United States and Italy.