Valerio Jalongo (born 11 May 1960) 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 ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Life and career

Jalongo 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 ...

. Graduated in Philosophy, he attended the Gaumont School of Cinema, founded by producer Renzo Rossellini, and also studied Cinema at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. His directorial debut came in 1983 with ''Juke box'', an

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

directed as well by Carlo Carlei,

Daniele Luchetti Daniele Luchetti (; born 25 July 1960) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor. Life and career Luchetti was born in Rome. He debuted as assistant director for Nanni Moretti in '' Bianca'' (1983) and '' The Mass Is Ended'' (1985) ...

Antonello Grimaldi Antonio Luigi Grimaldi, known as Antonello Grimaldi (born 14 August 1955) is an Italian actor, film and television director, and screenwriter. Biography Grimaldi was born on 14 August 1955 in Sassari on the island of Sardinia in Italy. Aft ...

, and others casting

Massimo Bonetti Massimo Bonetti (born 28 March 1951) is an Italian actor and director. Life and career Born in Rome, Bonetti after several years as character actor debuted in a leading role in 1981, in Aurelio Chiesa's ''Bim Bum Bam''. Then, he obtained role ...

, Philippe Leroy, and

Barbara De Rossi Barbara De Rossi (born 9 August 1960) is an Italian actress who has combined a career in international cinema with longstanding popularity in Italian television. Biography Barbara De Rossi was born in 1960 in Rome to an Italian wine importer and ...

and screened 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 ...

. In 1988, Jalongo made ''DreamCity'', a documentary film shot in

which won the Vittorio De Sica Prize the same year. His first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

was ''Spaghetti Slow'' (1997) starring

Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor and film director. He is the recipient of three IFTA Awards, two British Independent Film Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award and four times for ...

and

Ivano Marescotti Ivano Marescotti (4 February 1946 – 26 March 2023) was an Italian actor and theatre director. Life and career Born in Villanova di Bagnacavallo, province of Ravenna, Marescotti worked as a clerk in the urban sector of the Councillorship of ...

, shot in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. In 2004, he directed ''Sulla mia pelle'', featuring

Donatella Finocchiaro Donatella Finocchiaro (born 16 November 1970) is an Italian actress. She has appeared in more than 20 films since 2002. She starred in ''The Wedding Director'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ...

and

Ivan Franek Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

. In 2009, his documentary ''Di me cosa ne sai'' ('' What Do You Know About Me'') was presented at the

66th Venice International Film Festival The 66th annual Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was held from 2 to 12 September 2009, with Maria Grazia Cucinotta serving as the festival's hostess. The opening film of the festival was '' Baarìa'' by Giuseppe Torn ...

(Venice Days) where it received the "Federazione italiana dei circoli del cinema" Prize.It was also at the

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

in 2010 and at the Doku.arts International Films on Art of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. The film analyzes the cinema crisis of the seventies that caused the flight of

Dino De Laurentiis Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian-American film producer. Along with Carlo Ponti, he was one of the producers who brought Italian cinema to the international scene at the end of World War II. He ...

Carlo Ponti Carlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti Sr. (11 December 1912 – 9 January 2007) was an Italian film producer with more than 140 productions to his credit. Along with Dino De Laurentiis, he is credited with reinvigorating and popularizing Italian cinema ...

, and other big producers from Italy to United States and the related phenomena marking the gradual disappearance of

Italian cinema The cinema of Italy (, ) comprises the films made within Italy or by Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and the stylistic aspect of film ha ...

from the international market. In 2010, he wrote and directed ''La scuola è finita'', a feature movie starring

Valeria Golino Valeria Golino (born 22 October 1965) is an Italian actress and film director. She is best known to English-language audiences for her roles in ''Rain Man'', ''Big Top Pee-wee'' and the two ''Hot Shots!'' films, particularly the olive-in-the-bell ...

and Vincenzo Amato, presented 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 ...

Montreal 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 ...

and Bangkok Italian Film Festival the following year. He then realised a documentary about art and science, ''The Sense of Beauty'', made at

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, and presented at Nyon Film Festival,

Visions du Réel Visions du Réel (Visions of Reality) is an internationally renowned documentary film festival held in April each year in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1969 as the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, the event adopted its current na ...

in 2017, selected as one of the best 20 Europeans documentaries at

Prix Europa {{notability, Events, date=March 2021 PRIX EUROPA – The European Broadcasting Festival – is the Europe's largest annual tri-medial festival and competition. The event takes place in the third week of October in Berlin, Germany. PRIX E ...

2018 in Berlin, at Visioni dal Mondo 2017 as opening title, and in other international festivals. ''The Sense of Beauty'' was also introduced by over 150 scientists in Italian and Swiss movie theatres, remaining on schedule in theatres for over six months. In 2021, he made ''Water Is Taught by Thirst'', a high school class story shot in 15 years, documenting the life of a class and its teacher throughout successive reunions. Nominated for

Nastro d'argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

in 2022, was in competition at the 51° Nyon Film Festival, Visions du Réel, and selected as best film at the 6° International Festival Visioni dal Mondo. Jalongo is also a film language teacher.

Filmography as director

*1985: ''

Juke box A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...

'' (several directors) *1988: '' DreamCity'' (doc) *1996: ''Il caso Bebawi'' (The Bebawi Affair) (tv-movie) *1997: '' Spaghetti Slow'' *1998: '' Torniamo a casa'' (Let's Go Home) (tv-movie) *2004: ''Sulla mia pelle'' ( On My Skin) *2005: ''R.I.S.'' (Scientific Police) (tv-series) (co-director) *2009: '' What Do You Know About Me'' (doc) *2010: '' La scuola è finita'' (The School Is Over) *2017: ''Il senso della bellezza, arte e scienza al CERN'' (The Sense of Beauty: Art and Science at CERN) (doc) *2021: ''L'acqua l'insegna la sete'' (Water Is Taught by Thirst) (doc)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jalongo, Valerio 1960 births Living people Writers from Rome Italian-language film directors Italian male film actors Italian film directors Italian screenwriters Italian male screenwriters Italian television directors