PASCAL TESSAUD was born in Paris. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, he received a MA in Literature and cinema at Paris X Nanterre University and a M2 in documentary at IECA Nancy University. He studied one year at Università Ca'Foscari Di Venezia (Erasmus Italy). He directed four short films : “Noctambules” (12’) with Hiam Abbass, “L’Ete de Noura” (18’), “Facies” (15’) and “City of Light” (30’) which have been screened at many international festivals (Hollyshorts, Montreal, NY African Film Fest, Fespaco, Clermont Ferrand, Grenoble, Rooftop NY, Pantin, Sydney etc. “City of Light” won the Best Short Film Award in New York, Warsaw, Toronto and Mexico and won the Colcoa Audience Award in Los Angeles. He also directed many remarked documentaries for France Television: “Slam, Ce Qui Nous Brûle” (52’), “Mantes la Jolie sur le Mic” with Charles Aznavour (44’), “Saint-Denis” (52’), “Marseille” with Akhenaton (IAM) (52’) and “Beatbox, Boom Bap around the world” (55’) Opening film at FIPA Biarritz and distributed by Arte. He wrote, directed and produced his first long feature film “Brooklyn” premiered at ACID section in Cannes, was shown all around the world (Rio de Janeiro, Cuba, Talinn, Roma, Goteborg, Lisboa, Amsterdam, Tanger, Toronto, Athens, Montreal, Tubingen, Dakar, etc) won the Grand Prize for the Best Original Score at Marseille (ex Aubagne) International Music & Film Festival and Best foreigner feature film at New York Hip Hop Film Festival in 2017, Best feature at Hip Hop Cinefest of Roma. "Under my skin" is sophomore feature was premiered at FID Marseille in 2024 and won a Spirit award for Best feature film at Brooklyn film festival and Best feature award at Sao Paulo, Compton, Detroit, Miami, Roma Hip Hop Cinefest, Sao Jorge, Berlin, New York, SMR13, London and Los Angeles and was selected in 50 international festivals (Fespaco, Itauna, Istanbul, Heraklion, Miami, Casablanca, Abidjan, Washington DC, Barcelona, Sousse, Toronto, Teramo etc) and received more than 25 international awards. It was theatrically released in France in 30 cities with Les Film de l'Atalante (distributor).
His films have been reviewed by Hollywood reporter, Variety, Indiewire, Le Film Français, le Monde, le Parisien, les Cahiers du cinéma, Positif, Le Figaro, Libération, Télérama, Studio, Premiere, La Provence, Les Inrocks, Nouvel Obs, France inter, Radio Nova, RFI, France Culture, La Marseillaise, Ouest France, 20 minutes, France 3, BFM TV, Zebuline, Skyrock, Trace TV, Trex Magazine, Urban Tracks etc.