May 20, 2016—Underwater camera guru Pawel Achtel has won a Golden Tripod at this year’s prestigious Australian Cinematography Society ceremony in Adelaide, Australia.
His short film production Sea of Love, shot in giant screen quality, was awarded the Ron Taylor AM ACS Award for Wildlife and Nature films. Featuring extraordinary, powerful shots of humpback whales crashing into waves and intimate portraits of underwater romance in a range of exotic and colourful sea creatures, this short film is the precursor to an epic production, 5 years in the making, destined for the world’s largest cinema screens.
“It’s a great honour,” said Tasmania-based cinematographer Achtel, who’s more at home in a wetsuit out in the ocean, miles from civilisation, than dressed in a suit and tie in the city. “Capturing dramatic images and behaviour that you know haven’t been filmed before is one of the great rewards of underwater wildlife filming. But receiving this recognition from colleagues whose work I’ve admired for years is really special for me too.”
Achtel’s films are all shot on innovative equipment that his own company has designed and engineered, enabling him to capture images much sharper, and more immersive, than ever before. Screen Tasmania’s Andrew McPhail is one of many supporters of his work and innovations: “the images captured by Pawel’s revolutionary underwater camera system are nothing less than extraordinary,” he said. “And what’s exciting for us is that something that’s changed the world of underwater cinematography has emanated from Tasmania.”