Gianni Amelio (born 20 January 1945) is an Italian
film director.
Early life
Amelio was born in
San Pietro di Magisano
Magisano is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region, southern Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the mi ...
,
province of Catanzaro,
Calabria. His father moved to
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
soon after his birth. He spent his youth and adolescence with his mother and his grandmother. The absence of a paternal figures will be a constant in Amelio's future works.
During his university studies of philosophy 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 ...
, Amelio got interested in cinema, writing as film critic for a local magazine. In 1965 he moved to
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 ...
, where he worked as
operator
Operator may refer to:
Mathematics
* A symbol indicating a mathematical operation
* Logical operator or logical connective in mathematical logic
* Operator (mathematics), mapping that acts on elements of a space to produce elements of another ...
and assistant director for figures such as
Liliana Cavani and
Vittorio De Seta. He also worked for television, directing documentaries and advertisements.
Amelio's first important work is the TV film ''
La città del sole'', directed in 1973 for
RAI TV and inspired to
Tommaso Campanella's work. This was followed by ''
Bertolucci secondo il cinema'' (1976) a documentary about ''
1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), ...
'' shooting, and the thriller ''
Effetti speciali''. Two years later he directed the mystery ''
La morte al lavoro'', which won prizes at
Locarno and
Hyères festivals. ''
The Little Archimedes'' (''Il piccolo Archimede'') of 1979 was also critically acclaimed.
In 1982 he debuted for cinema proper with ''
Blow to the Heart'' (''Colpire al cuore''), about Italian terrorism, presented at the
Venice Film Festival. In 1987 Amelio released ''
I ragazzi di via Panisperna'', about the lives of 1930 Italian physicists such as
Enrico Fermi and
Edoardo Amaldi, which won the award for best screenplay at the
Bari Film Festival. 1989's ''
Open Doors'' (''Porte aperte''), featuring
Gian Maria Volonté
Gian Maria Volonté (9 April 1933 – 6 December 1994) was an Italian actor, including roles in four Spaghetti Western films: Ramón Rojo in Sergio Leone's ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964) and El Indio in Leone's '' For a Few Dollars More'' ( ...
, confirmed Amelio's status as one of Italy's best film directors and won a nomination as Best Foreign Film at 1991 Academy Awards. The film received also four Felix, two
Silver Ribbon, four
David di Donatello and three Golden Globes awards.
Also successful was ''
The Stolen Children'' (''Il ladro di bambini'') in 1992, which won the Special Prize of Jury at the
1992 Cannes Film Festival plus two Silver Ribbon and 5 David di Donatello. In 1994 ''
Lamerica'', about Albanian immigration in Italy, repeated the fate and the success, with 2 Silver Ribbons and 3 Davids. Four years later, ''
The Way We Laughed'' (''Così ridevano'') won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Amelio gained another Silver Ribbon as best director for ''
The Keys to the House
''The Keys to the House'' ( it, Le chiavi di casa) is an Italian 2004 dramatic family film based on the story ''Born Twice'' (Italian title: ''Nati due volte'') telling the story of a young father meeting his handicapped son for the first time ...
'' (''Le chiavi di casa''), inspired to a novel by
Giuseppe Pontiggia, of 2004.
Amelio was a member of jury at the
Cannes Film Festival in 1995. In 2006 he released his eighth feature film, ''
The Missing Star'' (''La stella che non c'è''), featuring
Sergio Castellitto
Sergio Castellitto (born 18 August 1953) is an Italian actor, film director, and screenwriter.
Biography
Sergio Castellitto was born in Rome in 1953, to parents from Molise and Abruzzo, Southern Italy. After graduating from the Silvio D'Amico Na ...
. From 2009 to 2012 he has been director of
Torino Film Festival,
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. Th ...
.
Amelio came out as gay late in life, shortly before the release of his 2014 documentary ''Happy to be Different''.
Berlin Film Review: 'Happy to Be Different'
Variety, 12 February 2014
Filmography
* '' La città del sole'' (1973, TV)
* '' Effetti speciali'' (1974, TV)
* '' Bertolucci secondo il cinema'' (1976, TV)
* '' La morte al lavoro'' (1978, TV)
* '' The Little Archimedes'' (1979, TV)
* ''I velieri
I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...
'' (1980, TV)
* '' Blow to the Heart'' (1982)
* '' I ragazzi di via Panisperna'' (1987)
* '' Open Doors'' (1989)
* '' The Stolen Children'' (1992)
* '' Lamerica'' (1994)
* '' The Way We Laughed'' (1998)
* ''The Keys to the House
''The Keys to the House'' ( it, Le chiavi di casa) is an Italian 2004 dramatic family film based on the story ''Born Twice'' (Italian title: ''Nati due volte'') telling the story of a young father meeting his handicapped son for the first time ...
'' (2004)
* '' The Missing Star'' (2006)
* '' The First Man'' (2011)
* '' L'intrepido'' (2013)
* ''Happy to Be Different
Happiness, in the context of mental or emotional states, is positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia.
Sinc ...
'' (2014)
* '' Tenderness'' (2017)
* '' Hammamet'' (2020)
* '' The Lord of the Ants'' (2022)
Awards
* Nastro d'Argento Best Director
**''Open Doors'' (1991)
**''The Stolen Children'' (1993)
**''Lamerica'' (1995)
**''The Keys to the House'' (2005)
*Leone d'Oro
The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...
at Venice Film Festival
**''The Way We Laughed'' (1998)
* European Film Awards Best Film
**''Open Doors'' (1991)
**''The Stolen Children'' (1993)
**''Lamerica'' (1995)
References
Bibliography
* Academic article on Lamerica, See link: https://www.academia.edu/3379912/Inside_the_Beasts_Cage_Gianni_Amelios_Lamerica_and_the_Dilemmas_of_Post-1989_Leftist_Cinema
* ''Raccontare i sentimenti. Il Cinema di Gianni Amelio'', a cura di Sebastiano Gesù, Giuseppe Maimone Editore, Catania 2008
External links
*
GreenCine interviews Gianni Amelio, conducted by NPR's David D'Arcy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amelio, Gianni
1945 births
Living people
People from Catanzaro
Italian film directors
LGBT film directors
Italian LGBT people
Directors of Golden Lion winners
Crystal Simorgh recipients
David di Donatello winners
Nastro d'Argento winners
Ciak d'oro winners