Cosima Spender (born in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) is an Anglo-Italian film director, producer and writer who has worked in varying capacities on ''

Dolce Vita Africana ''Dolce Vita Africana'' is a British 2008 documentary film. Synopsis ''Dolce Vita Africana'' is a documentary about the internationally renowned Malian photographer Malick Sidibé, whose iconic images from the late 1950s through the 70s ca ...

'' (2008 director and producer), ''Without Gorky'' (2011 director and writer) and ''

Palio Palio is the name given in Italy to an annual athletic contest, very often of a historical character, pitting the neighbourhoods of a town or the hamlets of a ''comune'' against each other. Typically, they are fought in costume and commemorate som ...

'' (2015 writer and director). ''Palio'' won the best documentary editing award at the 2015

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

. Spender was born in Italy but moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

when she was fourteen. She received a degree in Anthropology and Art History at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

. She then went on to enroll in the post-graduate documentary directing course at the

National Film and Television School The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repor ...

also in England. Spender is married to and sometimes collaborates with the film editor Valerio Bonelli. Her father,

Matthew Spender Matthew Spender (born 1945) is an English sculptor. He is the author of ''From a High Place: A Life of Arshile Gorky'' (1999), a biography of his father-in-law, the artist Arshile Gorky, and ''A House in St John's Wood'' (2015), about his father, ...

, is son of the poet

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by the ...

and pianist

Natasha Spender Natasha Spender, Lady Spender (''née'' Litvin; 18 April 1919 – 21 October 2010) was an English pianist and author. She was the second wife of the writer Sir Stephen Spender. She was born in London. Her maternal family emigrated to Brita ...

; her mother, Maro, is daughter of the Armenian artist

Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky (; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, hy, Ոստանիկ Մանուկ Ատոյեան; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of his ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spender, Cosima Italian film directors Italian women film directors Italian film producers Alumni of SOAS University of London Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people)