Roberto Minervini (born 1970) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, photographer, and

Music Producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. His recent films, focusing on American rural life and marginalized populations, have been praised for their "disarming directness." Minervini's films are notable for their use of both documentary observation and dramatized elements, sometimes in combination. His 2018 documentary ''What You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire?'' won a number of awards at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, and ''The Other Side'' (2015) was shown in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Early life

Born in

Fermo Fermo (ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo. Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway. History The oldest hum ...

, Italy, in 1970, Minervini obtained a degree in Economics and Commerce at the University of Ancona and a doctorate in " History of Cinema" at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He moved to the United States in October 2000, to work as an

IT consultant In management, information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, computer consultancy, business and technology services, computing consultancy, technology consulting, and IT advisory) is a field of activity which focuses on advising or ...

. In 2004, he completed a master's degree in

Media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...

at the

New School University The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

in New York City. From 2006 to 2007, he taught at

De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic coeducational research university run by the I ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, Philippines.

Career

Minervini began writing, directing, and producing films shortly after completing his master's degree at the New School. Prior to producing full-length feature films, he made a number of shorts, including ''Voodoo Doll'', ''Come to Daddy'', ''Notes'', and ''The Fireflies''. 2011's ''The Passage'' was a nominee for the Golden Zenith at the

Montréal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

. ''Low Tide'', his 2012 film, showed at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

, winning the Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Special Award and garnering a nomination for the Venice Horizons Award. His film ''

Stop the Pounding Heart ''Stop the Pounding Heart'' is a 2013 documentary drama film written and directed by Roberto Minervini Roberto Minervini (born 1970) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, photographer, and Music Producer. His recent films, focusing on R ...

'' was included in the Official Selection of the 2013

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

and has won numerous awards at other festivals, including the

David di Donatello The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award cat ...

Award for Best Documentary. ''The Other Side'' was shown in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival 2015. Minervini was part of the Jury of the "Horizons" section at the 71st Venice International Film Festival (2014).

Filmography

* ''Voodoo Doll'' (Short Film, 2005) * ''Come to Daddy'' (Short Film, 2005) * ''Notes'' (Short Film, 2005) * ''The Fireflies'' (Short Film, 2006) * ''The Passage'' (2011) * ''Low Tide'' (2012) * ''Stop the Pounding Heart'' (2013) * ''The Other Side'' (2015) * ''What You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire?'' (2018)

Awards and recognition

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minervini, Roberto Italian film directors Italian photographers Italian record producers Italian screenwriters Living people 1970 births People from Fermo