Chiara D'Anna is an Italian actress, director, writer and academic notable for working with the writer and director Peter Strickland in

Berberian Sound Studio ''Berberian Sound Studio'' is a 2012 British psychological horror film. It is the second feature film by British director and screenwriter Peter Strickland. The film, which stars Toby Jones, is set in a 1970s Italian horror film studio. Plot B ...

and

The Duke of Burgundy ''The Duke of Burgundy'' is a 2014 British erotic romance drama film written and directed by Peter Strickland, and starring Sidse Babett Knudsen as Cynthia and Chiara D'Anna as Evelyn. The film was screened at various film festivals, includin ...

. While studying Geology at the University of Turin she joined drama school. Her directorial debut was an adaptation of Bulghakov's

The Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' (russian: Мастер и Маргарита) is a novel by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940 during Stalin's regime. A censored version, with several chapters cut by ...

. The following year her adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Salome was awarded the Aquilegia Blu National Prize. After obtaining her MSc she left Italy to pursue her acting career in London.

Life and work

D'Anna was born near

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, Italy. She studied Geology and spent most of early twenties between the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

and the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

. She trained in Italy, Poland and the UK and holds a BSc and MSc in Geology from the University of Turin, an MA in Physical Theatre from Royal Holloway University and a PhD in Performing Arts from the School of Art, Architecture and Design at London Metropolitan University. At completion of her MA in Physical Theatre at Royal Holloway University she started lecturing at

Rose Bruford College Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various discipl ...

and working as a freelance Movement and Acting Coach. In 2010 she founde
Panta Rei Theatre
The company's vision is to 'inspire open mindedness and compassion by engaging the audience on a physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual level.' Her productions have been praised for their originality, creativity and outstanding visual power. Her wide-ranging body of work includes text-based theatre, multimedia performances, site-specific immersive work, happenings, dance theatre, street theatre, performance-installations, combined arts events and Commedia dell'Arte shows. Her film career began in 2011 with her debut in Peter Strickland award-winning Berberian Sound Studio. A couple of year later Strickland cast her as co-lead opposite

Sidse Babett Knudsen Sidse Babett Knudsen (; born 22 November 1968) is a Danish actress who works in theatre, television, and film. Knudsen made her screen debut in the 1997 improvisational comedy '' Let's Get Lost'', for which she received both the Robert and Bodi ...

. This performance brought D'Anna to the attention of many critics worldwide. At the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

D'Anna was nominated as one of th
13 Actors to Watch Out For
Since then she has appeared in several features and short films including

Native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

The Rook
an
Stars and Bones
for which she was awarded the "Inspiring Woman in A Film" at th
Los Angeles Film Awards
April 2017. Between 2014 and 2018 she led a practice-led research project on the legacy of Commedia dell'Arte in Postdramatic theatre at the School of Art, Architecture and Design. D'Anna still maintains strong links with academia and education. She teaches Movement on the MA Theatre Lab at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Se ...

and works as an Associate Lecturer at

, East15 Acting School,

Goldsmiths University Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wo ...

in the UK and the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy . D'Anna lives in North London with her partner therapist, education consultant and author Michael Warwick with whom she founde
Natural You
, "an holistic and transformative practice exploring the connection between Body, Mind and Spirit. It draws on Yoga, Dance, Physical Theatre and self-development work".

Filmography

; Actress * 2012 : ''

'' * 2014 : ''

'' * 2015 :
The Rook
' (short film) * 2016 : ''

'' * 2016 : ''Circe and the Boy'' (short film) * 2017 :
Stars and Bones
' (short film)

References

External links

*
Chiara D'Anna websitePanta Rei Theatre company websiteExclusive Interview: Chiara D'Anna talks The Duke of BurgundyS&M Saves: Inside the Kinkiest Arthouse Film of the Year. Rolling Stones MagazineRencontre avec Chiara D'Anna, Les Arcs Film Festival. Interview

TIFF 2014 The Duke of Burgundy Intro

BFI LFF InterviewsBFI LFF Q&A The Duke of BurgundyQ&A with Peter Srickland & Chiara D'Anna TFF32

The Duke of Burgundy Review. Empire Magazine*****The Duke of Burgundy: Sexy and Strange. The Telegraph*****
* ttp://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-duke-of-burgundy-review-20150123-story.html?track=rss&dlvrit=95867 'The Duke of Burgundy' a mesmerizing sexual thriller. LA Times*****
BBC Radio 4 Front Row Review of The Duke of Burgundy*****Director Peter Strickland’s sumptuous, all-female S&M fable is his greatest film to date. The Little White Lies*****

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160423172209/http://www.divamag.co.uk/category/arts-entertainment/50-shades-of-burgundy-a-lesbian-sm-film-to-rival-the-grey.aspx 50 Shades of Burgundy: a lesbian S&M film to rival the grey?]
Chiara D'Anna On ... Bringing Don Quixote to Peckham
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Anna, Chiara Italian actresses Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)