Donatella Maiorca (born September 13, 1957, in

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Career

Donatella Maiorca began working as an actress and assistant director while she was a student of psychology at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a Public university, public research university l ...

. In 1981 she worked as an assistant director for

Luciano Odorisio Luciano Orodisio (born Chieti, 7 March 1942) is an Italian actor, screenwriter, and film and television director. Filmography Actor * '' Uccideva a freddo'', directed by Guido Celano (1966) (Italian) * ''Il seme dell'uomo'', directed by Marco ...

, and she eventually got to work on the sets of some cinematic films like ''

Odd Squad ''Odd Squad'' (stylized as ''ODD SQUAD'') is a children's live action educational television series that premiered on TVOKids in Canada and PBS Kids in the United States on November 26, 2014. Similar to ''Cyberchase'' and ''Peg + Cat'', other ma ...

'' (1981), directed by E.B. Clucher, and ''

Big Deal After 20 Years ''Big Deal After 20 Years'' ( it, I soliti ignoti vent'anni dopo) is a 1985 Italian comedy film directed by Amanzio Todini. It is the sequel to ''Big Deal on Madonna Street'' and ''Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti''. Plot After several years spen ...

'' (1985), directed by Amanzio Todini. In 1996 she debuted as director, making a documentary for

Rai 3 Rai 3 (formerly Rete 3) is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It was launched on 15 December 1979 and its programming is centred towards cultural and ...

. Two years later came her cinematic debut: ''

Viol@ ''Viol@'' is a 1998 Italian erotic drama film directed by Donatella Maiorca. Plot Marta, behind the nickname "Viol@", decided to experience the thrill of virtual sex. Her interlocutor, a mysterious man named Mittler, seems to be able to please h ...

'', with

Stefania Rocca Stefania Rocca (born 24 April 1971) is an Italian actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''Nirvana'' (1997), ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' (1999) and ''Dracula'' (2002). Rocca also was the lead in Dario Argento's ''The Card Player''. ...

. Maiorca also garnered nominations for the

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

and

Nastro d'Argento for Best New Director The ''Nastro d'Argento'' (Silver Ribbon) is a film award assigned each year, since 1946, by ''Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani'' ("Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists"), the association of Italian film critics. ...

. In the following years Maiorca handled the directing of some episodes of television programs for

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

, like '' Giornalisti'' (Journalists) in 2000 and '' La stagione dei delitti'' (Crime Season) in 2007. She also directed eleven various episodes of the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Un Posto al Sole ''Un posto al sole'' (English: ''A Place in the Sun'') is an Italian soap opera transmitted by Rai 3 since 1996. It is set in a fictional apartment building called Palazzo Palladini, located in front of the sea in the Naples neighborhood of Posill ...

'' (A Place in the Sun), and over seventy episodes of '' La squadra'' (The Squad) and ''

La nuova squadra ''La nuova squadra'' is an Italian television series. See also *List of Italian television series The following is a list of television series produced in Italy: # *1992 *1993 *1994 * 48 ore * 7 vite A * Adrian (TV series) * Al di là ...

'' (The New Squad). In 2009 Maiorca directed the film '' Viola di mare'' ('Sea Violet' or 'Purple Sea') with

Isabella Ragonese Isabella Ragonese (born 19 May 1981) is an Italian actress. She studied acting at the Teatès School in Palermo, under director Michele Perriera. During her studies, she wrote, directed and starred in several adaptations of his plays. In 1998 s ...

and

Valeria Solarino Valeria Solarino (born 4 November 1979) is an Italian actress, born in Venezuela. Life and career She was born in Barcelona, Venezuela to a Sicilian father and Turinese mother. After studying philosophy at the University of Turin, she debute ...

, a love story between two women set in 19th-century

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. The film won for Maiorca the Città di Firenze Award at the New Italian Cinema Events international film festival of 2009–2010, bringing her film onto American, Dutch, and Russian screens. Valeria Solarino won the

Susan Batson Susan Batson (born February 27, 1943, in Roxbury, Massachusetts) is an American producer, actress, author, acting coach, and a life member of the Actors Studio. Batson graduated from Girls Latin School and Emerson College. One of three sister ...

Award. At the International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival of Bilbao in 2011, Valeria Solarino won the award for best actress and Isabella Ragonese received special mention. ''Viola di mare'' was nominated for the Marc'Aurelio d'Oro for best film at the

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'Og ...

Filmography

*''

'' (1998) *'' Viola di mare'' (2009)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maiorca, Donatella Italian film directors Italian women film directors People from Messina 1957 births Living people Film people from the Province of Messina