BIOGRAPHY
Sandi Sissel began her career as a cinematographer at NBC and ABC where she received two Emmy awards on Her Majesty's Britannia and coverage of the war in Vietnam. During the 70's and 80's she shot countless segments for ABC's 20/20, Saturday Night Live and 60 minutes.
Sandi served as Director Of Photography on the Oscar nominated motion picture Salaam Bombay which received the Camera D'Or at Cannes. In addition she photographed Yellow Card, Barney's Great Adventure, Drug Wars: The Camarena Story, Soul Of The Game, The Reef, Camp Nowhere, Full Eclipse, Double Switch, Drop Dead Fred, Drag Strip Girl, The People Under The Stairs, Passion's Way, New York Minute, and Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns.
Among her Oscar and Emmy winning documentary credits are Seeing Red, The Wobblies, Americas In Transition, Mother Teresa, Jane Goodall: Chimps So Like Us, Blood In The Face, Chicken Ranch, Broken Treaty At Battle Mountain, Krik Krak Tales Of A Nightmare, Calling The Shots, Speaking Our Peace, Heavy Petting, Chisholm 72: Unbought and Unbossed, Free Angela, Witness To War, Going Upriver: The Long War Of John Kerry, Lord God Bird, One Heartbeat and Before Stonewall. She received a BAFTA nomination for her work on The Endurance and also photographed Roving Mars, an IMAX film.
She has done 2nd unit photography on major motion pictures including Uncle, Dangerous Minds, Black Knight, Exit Wounds, Rock Star, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Roommates, Daredevil, Stealing Harvard, The Believers, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Allan Quartermain and The City of Lost Gold, The Ballad Of Jack and Rose, Blow, Cellular and the Oscar winning Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World. She also received a Satellite Award nomination for Master and Commander.
In addition she has been Director Of Photography on several network television and mini-series including Class Of 96, The Flash, Young Americans, Matt Waters, Philly Heat, Night Stalker, Night Sins and two Emmy winning shows Wonder Years and Drug Wars. Among her cable and television movie credits are In The Echo, Toothless, Suddenly, Radiant City, Great Mom Swap, Dad, The Angel and Me, In The Company Of Darkness, Keeping Secrets, It's Nothing Personal and For Richer, For Poorer.
Sandi directed Chicken Ranch which won Sundance and BAFTA awards in addition to Highwire, Cowgirls, Looking Good America and HBO's Nerve: Natacha Merritt.
Sandi served as head of Cinematography at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program from 2001 to 2016.
In 1994 Sandi received the Kodak Crystal Award for lifetime achievement from Women In Film. She has appeared in the films Visions Of Light, House Of Horrors, Side By Side, The Heritage Interviews, Women Of Light, Shooting Women and Women Behind The Lens.
Sandi is a member of the International Photographers Guild Local 600 and Women In Film. She was invited into the American Society Of Cinematographers in 1994 and the Australian Cinematographers Society in 2018. She has been a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2004.
