Stefano Bessoni
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Stefano Bessoni (born 14 September 1965) is an Italian filmmaker,
stop-motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
animator and illustrator.


Life and career

Bessoni was born in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
in 1965. He studied
visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...
under the teaching of the Neapolitan engraver Mario Scarpati. After a detour in
zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
and
natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
, he left the Faculty of Biology and later graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. Since 1989 he has made many experimental films, video and theatre installations and documentary films. In the 1990s he worked for many TV production companies as camera operator,
cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
and film editor. From 1998 to 2001 he collaborated with the Italian director
Pupi Avati Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati (born 3 November 1938), is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known to horror film fans for his two giallo masterpieces, ''The House with Laughing Windows'' (1976) and '' Zeder ...
as assistant, storyboard artist and digital effect artist. In 1995, he was awarded the "Claudio Pastori" Prize by the Italian FEDIC, for his work as a filmmaker, "for the consistency of his commitment, the peculiarity of his research, the culture and the passion expressed through his work and in the in-depth analysis of the relationships between cinema, painting, history, and popular traditions and beliefs." Bessoni is also active as a teacher, both in Italy and abroad. From 2000 to 2007 he taught direction at the NUCT (Roma Film Academy) in
Cinecittà Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios we ...
, Rome. From 2010 to 2013 he held lectures at the Griffith Academy in Rome. He has held many workshops on illustration and stop-motion animation at schools and festivals including Ars in Fabula (
Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ri ...
, Italy),
Giffoni Film Festival The Giffoni International Film Festival is an Italian children's film festival which takes place annually in Giffoni Valle Piana, Campania. It began in 1971. The Giffoni International Film Festival typically has around 100,000 guests and has had ...
(
Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...
, Italy), Future Film Festival (
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, Italy), Bologna Children’s Book Fair – Expopixel (Bologna, Italy), Fantaspoa (
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,
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), and Estación Diseño (
Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
). The 2014 book ''Stop-motion. La fabbrica delle meraviglie'' (Stop Motion. The Marvel Factory,), with a preface by Barry J.C. Purves was born out of his long-time experience as a teacher and as a stop-motion animator. "Enchanted by the imaginary dimension of fairy tales" and "fascinated by anything gruesome and disturbing, ominous or deadly", he has also published many illustrated books inspired by the world of '' Wunderkammer'', old fairy tales and macabre rhymes, among which are ''Homunculus'' (2011), ''Wunderkammer'' (2011), ''Alice Underground'' (2012), ''Gallows Songs'' (2013) and ''Pinocchio'' (2014). He currently coordinates the undergraduate course in Illustration and Animation at the IED in Rome.


Filmography

Feature films * 2011 ''Krokodyle'' * 2009 ''
Imago Mortis ''Imago Mortis'' is a 2009 Italian-Spanish film directed by Stefano Bessoni. The supernatural thriller stars Geraldine Chaplin and is the first major screen appearance of her daughter, Oona. Richard Stanley, one of the film's scriptwriters descri ...
'' * 2005 ''Frammenti di scienze inesatte'' * 2001 '' The Knights of the Quest'' (directed by
Pupi Avati Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati (born 3 November 1938), is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known to horror film fans for his two giallo masterpieces, ''The House with Laughing Windows'' (1976) and '' Zeder ...
) (storyboard artist) * 1999 ''La via degli angeli'' (directed by Pupi Avati) (sketch artist) Medium-length films, short films, documentaries * 2013 ''Gallows Songs'' * 2002 ''Kokocinski'' * 2000 ''Il catturatore'' * 1998 ''Galgenlieder. Canti patibolari'' * 1997 ''Pinocchio apocrifo. Storia di un burattino in dieci quadri'' * 1996 ''Asterione'' * 1995 ''Grimm e il teatro della crudeltà'' * 1994 ''Totentanz'' * 1993 ''Gregor Samsa'' * 1993 ''Tulp'' * 1992 ''Il principe delle ombre. Ritratto di Mario Scarpati'' * 1991 ''La favola del bambino mai nato''


Bibliography

* ''Homunculus'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2011) * '' Wunderkammer'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2011) * '' Alice Under Ground'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2012) * ''Gallows Songs'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2013) * ''
Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2014) * '' Oz'', Modena: #logosedizioni (
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
) * ''Mr Punch'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2015) * ''Stop-motion, The Marvel Factory'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2015) * ''Stop-motion Workshop. First Level'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2016) * ''Stop-motion Workshop. Second Level: The Puppet'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2016) * ''Rachel'', Series ''Le scienze inesatte'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2017) * ''Rebecca'', Series ''Le scienze inesatte'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2018) * ''Giona'', Series ''Le scienze inesatte'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2018) * ''SPOON – 27 giorni da bombo'' (written by Varla Del Rio), Roma: Bakemono Lab (2018) * ''Theo'', Series ''Le scienze inesatte'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2019) * ''
Lombroso Lombroso, Lumbroso, or Lumbrozo is a surname, derived from a Sephardi family, members of which lived in Tunis, Marseilles, and Italy. The surname may refer to: * Isaac Lumbroso (1680–1752), rabbi and talmudist * Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909), ...
'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2019) * '' Darwin'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2020) * ''Memorie di un boia che amava i fiori'' (written by Nicola Lucci), Roma: Bakemono Lab (2020) * ''Alice Sotto Terra. White Rabbit Edition'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2021) * ''
Struwwelpeter ''Der Struwwelpeter'' ("shock-headed Peter" or "Shaggy Peter") is an 1845 German children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastr ...
. La vera storia di Pierino Porcospino'', Modena: #logosedizioni (2022)


Awards and recognition

* 2013 ''Gallows Songs'': Grant from the
Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities The Ministry of Culture ( it, Ministero della Cultura - MiC) is the ministry of the Government of Italy in charge of national museums and the '' monuments historiques''. MiC's headquarters are located in the historic Collegio Romano Palace (v ...
as a "film of national cultural interest" * 2011 ''Krokodyle'': Silver Méliès Special Mention at the Sitges –
Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...
, Spain; Best International Film at the Puerto Rico Horror Fest, Puerto Rico, USA; Best Fantasy Film at the São Paulo CineFantasy, Brazil * 2006 ''
Imago Mortis ''Imago Mortis'' is a 2009 Italian-Spanish film directed by Stefano Bessoni. The supernatural thriller stars Geraldine Chaplin and is the first major screen appearance of her daughter, Oona. Richard Stanley, one of the film's scriptwriters descri ...
'': Grant of 500.000 euros for the film’s production by the
Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities The Ministry of Culture ( it, Ministero della Cultura - MiC) is the ministry of the Government of Italy in charge of national museums and the '' monuments historiques''. MiC's headquarters are located in the historic Collegio Romano Palace (v ...
as a “film of national cultural interest” * 2006 ''Frammenti di scienze inesatte'': Best Feature Film at the Fano International Film Festival; Young Jury Award at the Valdarno Cinema Fedic, San Giovanni Valdarno


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bessoni, Stefano 1965 births Living people Italian animated film directors Film directors from Rome Stop motion animators Italian illustrators