ITALIAN COMEDY DIRECTORS - Registi
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- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Ettore Scola was born on 10 May 1931 in Trevico, Campania, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for A Special Day (1977), The Family (1987) and Passion of Love (1981). He was married to Gigliola. He died on 19 January 2016 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mario Monicelli was born on 16 May 1915 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for The Organizer (1963), Speriamo che sia femmina (1986) and Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958). He was married to Chiara Rapaccini and Antonella Salerni. He died on 29 November 2010 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Pietro Germi was born on 14 September 1914 in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for The Railroad Man (1956), Divorce Italian Style (1961) and The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966). He was married to Olga D'Aiello and Anna Bancio. He died on 5 December 1974 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Alberto Lattuada was born on 13 November 1914 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Guendalina (1957), Flesh Will Surrender (1947) and Bambina (1974). He was married to Carla Del Poggio. He died on 3 July 2005 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
Paolo Genovese was born on 20 August 1966 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Perfect Strangers (2016), The Immature (2011) and The Place (2017).- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dino Risi became a movie director by chance. In 1940 he met Alberto Lattuada at a friend's boutique. Lattuada told him they needed an assistant director for the movie Piccolo mondo antico (1941). Risi accepted just for fun, not for work. Later, he became a psychiatrist and wrote some articles for a local newspaper in his spare time.
After the Second World War, he met a producer who financed his short films. One of these, Buio in sala (1950), was bought by Carlo Ponti. At that point, Risi decided to become a movie director. So he went to Rome and wrote the plot of Poor But Beautiful (1957) which made him famous. But the film that changed his life forever was The Easy Life (1962). At the opening night, Risi and producer Mario Cecchi Gori were waiting outside the movie theater. They were worried because no viewers had been coming to see the movie. So Risi went back home with much disappointment. However, the next day all the tickets were sold out and Risi became a star.- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Steno was born on 19 January 1917 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Execution Squad (1972), Cops and Robbers (1951) and La patata bollente (1979). He died on 12 March 1988 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Luciano Salce was born on 25 September 1922 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was an actor and director, known for Colpo di stato (1969), Crazy Desire (1962) and Alla mia cara mamma nel giorno del suo compleanno (1974). He was married to Jole Bertolazzi and Diletta D'Andrea. He died on 17 December 1989 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Paolo Virzì was born on 4 March 1964 in Livorno, Tuscany, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for The First Beautiful Thing (2010), Tutta la vita davanti (2008) and Like Crazy (2016). He has been married to Micaela Ramazzotti since 17 January 2009. They have two children. He was previously married to Paola Tiziana Cruciani.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Daniele Luchetti was born on 26 July 1960 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for The Yes Man (1991), Mio fratello è figlio unico (2007) and It's Happening Tomorrow (1988).- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Born in Rome, on 29/7/1975. Graduated in Psychology at the University of Palermo, Italy, with a thesis on the cinema of David Cronenberg. In 2001 he's the only one Italian winner of the prestigious Fulbright scholarship "Sergio Corbucci" (with a letter of presentation by the Academy Award winner director Giuseppe Tornatore). Thanks to that, he attends and graduates in film directing at the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Edoardo Maria Falcone was born on 6 August 1968 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for God Willing (2015), Escort in Love (2011) and It's All About Karma (2017).- Cinematographer
- Director
- Writer
Daniele Ciprì was born on 17 August 1962 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. He is a cinematographer and director, known for It Was the Son (2012), Il ritorno di Cagliostro (2003) and Lo zio di Brooklyn (1995).- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Franco Maresco was born on 5 May 1958 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for Belluscone. Una storia siciliana (2014), Lo zio di Brooklyn (1995) and How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio (2004).- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Francesco Bruni was born on 30 September 1961 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Easy! (2011), Tutto quello che vuoi (2017) and Human Capital (2013). He has been married to Raffaella Lebboroni since 19 September 1992. They have two children.- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Carlo Verdone is considered by many the heir of Alberto Sordi, expecially when they acted together in Troppo forte and In viaggio con papa', in these films many similarities with Sordi were apparent, the popular language, the romanesco, and the embodiment of Italian middle man in the '80s that Sordi did in the '50s and '60s.
In the last ten years Verdone has shown in his films the anguishes and the neurosis of Italian modern man. He is the brother-in-law of Christian de Sica. His father is an appreciated university Italian professor in cinema history.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Pif was born on 4 June 1972 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for The Mafia Kills Only in Summer (2013), At War with Love (2016) and E noi come stronzi rimanemmo a guardare (2021).- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Mario Mattoli was born on 30 November 1898 in Tolentino, Marche, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for Abbandono (1940), La damigella di Bard (1936) and Schoolgirl Diary (1941). He was married to Mity Mignone. He died on 26 February 1980 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Camillo Mastrocinque was born on 11 May 1901 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for I mariti (Tempesta d'anime) (1941), Don Pasquale (1940) and Lost in the Dark (1947). He died on 23 April 1969 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Roberto Benigni was born on 27 October 1952 in Manciano La Misericordia, Castiglion Fiorentino, Tuscany, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for Life Is Beautiful (1997), The Tiger and the Snow (2005) and Down by Law (1986). He has been married to Nicoletta Braschi since 26 December 1991.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
His acting career started when he was 15 in a theatre (Centro Teatro Spazio). In 1969 he founded the group "I saraceni" (later renamed "La smorfia") with Enzo Decaro and Lello Arena. He became famous to the TV audience between 1976 and 1979 with two TV programs "Non Stop" and "Luna Park". First movie "Ricomincio da tre" in 1981.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Leonardo Pieraccioni was born on 17 February 1965 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for The Cyclone (1996), I laureati (1995) and I Love You in Every Language in the World (2005).- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Francesco Nuti was born on 17 May 1955 in Prato near Florence. He made his debut in cinema industry with Giancattivi trio composed by Alessandro Benvenuti and Athina Cenci. They acted in the film Ad ovest di Paperino (1981) with acclaim from both critics and public. Then he acted with Italian director Maurizio Ponzi in Tuscany's trilogy, What a Ghostly Silence There Is Tonight (1982), The Pool Hustlers (1983), and Son contento (1983). After this experience he decided to direct his own movies Tutta colpa del paradiso (1985), and Caruso Paskoski, Son of a Pole (1988). After box-office hit Donne con le gonne (1991), he tried to make a great style film like OcchioPinocchio (1994), but this film was totally stamped on by critics and was a failure at box-office. He tried a come back with Caruso, zero in condotta (2001) and Concorso di colpa (2004) but he wasn't able to repeat the previous success. In the middle of 2006 he was hospitalized in Rome, where he entered a coma. On 24 November 2006 he came out from the coma and was brought into a rehabilitation center.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Maurizio Nichetti was born on 8 May 1948 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for To Want to Fly (1991), Luna e l'altra (1996) and The Icicle Thief (1989).- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Salvatores attended school in the Lombard metropolis. He started doing theater there. After graduating from high school, Salvatores enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Milan in 1968. He then studied at the Accademia d''arte drammatica, a drama school at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano. He completed his training with a diploma. It was the time of the student protests, which were particularly massive in Milan in the context of the left-wing radical movement "Lotta Continua". Salvatores took an active part and was involved in the newly emerging proletarian street theater. In 1972 Salvatores was among the co-founders of the Teatro dell''Elfo in Milan. In the following 10 years he played for this theater, for which he staged 21 performances. The musical that Salvatore staged from William Shakespeare's "Sogno di una notte di mezza estate" was a particular success.
He made his first feature film under the same title in 1983, which received an award in Venice. Salvatores became known to a larger Italian cinema audience primarily through the comedies "Marrakech Express" (1989) and "Turné" (1990), which dealt with his own political and social experiences. The director made a name for himself in international film with "Mediterraneo" (1991). The tragicomic film received an Oscar for best foreign contribution and, against the backdrop of the Italian military occupation of a Greek island during the Second World War, depicts the rapprochement between the occupiers and the locals. Salvatore's next film "Puerto Escondido" (1992) is set in Italy and Latin America. With "Sud" (1993), the director finally presented a sensitive study of the Italian south, his true home.
The following films "Nirvana" (1997), "Denti" (2000) and "Amnesia" (2001) were mainly known in Italian cinema. The Italian television broadcast of Salvatore's film "Io non ho paura" (2003) in April 2005 was a complete success: 35% of viewers saw the film. In May 2005, Salvatore's "Quo vadis, baby?" before, the film adaptation of a novel by Grazia Verasani, in which a female protagonist goes in search of her sister.- Renzo Arbore was born on 24 June 1937 in Foggia, Puglia, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for F.F.S.S., cioè: '...che mi hai portato a fare sopra a Posillipo se non mi vuoi più bene?' (1983), Il pap'occhio (1980) and Rain (2001).
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Davide Ferrario was born on 26 June 1956 in Casalmaggiore, Lombardy, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for After Midnight (2004), We All Fall Down (1997) and Tutta colpa di Giuda (2009).- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Luigi Comencini was born on 8 June 1916 in Salò, Lombardy, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Voltati Eugenio (1980), Everybody Go Home! (1960) and Bread, Love and Dreams (1953). He was married to Giulia Grifeo. He died on 6 April 2007 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
During the 1970s, Lina Wertmüller emblazoned her name into the pantheon of Italian cinema with a series of intensely polemical, deeply controversial and wonderfully entertaining films. Among the most politically outspoken and iconoclastic members of the second generation of postwar directors - the direct heirs to the neo-realists - Wertmüller was also one of the first woman directors to be internationally recognized and acclaimed. Armed with a keenly satiric and Rabelaisian humor, Wertmüller reinvented the narrative forms and character types of Italian comedy to create one of the rare examples of a radical, politically galvanized cinema that managed to achieve widespread popularity. Indeed, the fierce invectives against social, cultural and historical inequities at the heart of Wertmüller's mid-1970s masterworks Love and Anarchy, Seven Beauties and Swept Away seemed only to help the films find an appreciative audience, especially in the United States, where they broke box office records for foreign films and even secured Wertmüller an Oscar nomination for Best Director - the very first woman named for this category. Although Wertmüller remains a well-known name, her remarkable films are strangely overlooked and only selectively revisited. And yet, the incredible energy and daring of her most popular works is equally present in lesser-known masterpieces such as All Screwed Up and The Seduction of Mimi, films that are both extremely topical and yet still totally relevant today.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Nanni Loy was born on 23 October 1925 in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for The Four Days of Naples (1962), Scugnizzi (1989) and Il padre di famiglia (1967). He was married to Bianca Marchesano. He died on 21 August 1995 in Fiumicino, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Franco Brusati was born on 4 August 1922 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Bread and Chocolate (1974), Romeo and Juliet (1968) and I tulipani di Haarlem (1970). He died on 28 February 1993 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Nino Manfredi was born on 22 March 1921 in Castro dei Volsci, Lazio, Italy. He was an actor and writer, known for Between Miracles (1971), Bread and Chocolate (1974) and Café Express (1980). He was married to Erminia Ferrari Manfredi. He died on 4 June 2004 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Franco Castellano was born on 20 June 1925 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for The Taming of the Scoundrel (1980), The Twelve-Handed Men of Mars (1964) and Madly in Love (1981). He died on 28 December 1999 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Nanni Moretti was born on the 19th of August, 1953. He lives in Rome, where since he was a kid he devotes himself to his two passions: cinema and water-polo. In 1970 he also played in water-polo first division in Italy, and in the junior National team. In those years he was also very committed in politics, within the youth league of the Italian Communist Party. Once finished high school studies, he sold his stamps collection to buy a super8 cinema camera, using which he started shooting home-made short films with his friends in 1973. His professional movie-making career starts with Ecce bombo (1978). This was also his first nation-wide success, and still a cult-movie for many Italians.- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Antonio Pietrangeli was born on 19 January 1919 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for I Knew Her Well (1965), The Visit (1963) and March's Child (1958). He was married to Margherita Ferroni. He died on 12 July 1968 in Gaeta, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Abandoning earlier studies in architecture and engineering, Luigi Zampa learned screenwriting and directing at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, between 1932 and 1937. He went on to make military training films for the Italian army during World War II, as well as collaborating on film scripts. He began to direct in 1941, initially 'rom-coms' (romantic comedies), though his subsequent work became increasingly influenced by his wartime experiences. This was particularly the case with his acclaimed anti-war film To Live in Peace (1947) ("Vivere in Pace"). His next success, Anni difficili (1948), examined Italy's recent history under the influence, first of the Nazis, and, subsequently, the Allies. Noted as one of the first Italian neo-realist film makers, he injected satire and political criticism into his studies of bourgeois mores and corruption. Zampa's post-1960 films again reverted to becoming more escapist, commercially oriented.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Vittorio De Sica grew up in Naples, and started out as an office clerk in order to raise money to support his poor family. He was increasingly drawn towards acting, and made his screen debut while still in his teens, joining a stage company in 1923. By the late 1920s he was a successful matinee idol of the Italian theatre, and repeated that achievement in Italian movies, mostly light comedies. He turned to directing in 1940, making comedies in a similar vein, but with his fifth film The Children Are Watching Us (1943), he revealed hitherto unsuspected depths and an extraordinarily sensitive touch with actors, especially children. It was also the first film he made with the writer Cesare Zavattini with whom he would subsequently make Shoeshine (1946) and Bicycle Thieves (1948), heartbreaking studies of poverty in postwar Italy which won special Oscars before the foreign film category was officially established. After the box-office disaster of Umberto D. (1952), a relentlessly bleak study of the problems of old age, he returned to directing lighter work, appearing in front of the camera more frequently. Although Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) won him another Oscar, it was generally accepted that his career as one of the great directors was over. However, just before he died he made The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970), which won him yet another Oscar, and his final film A Brief Vacation (1973). He died following the removal of a cyst from his lungs.- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Francesco Patierno was born in 1964 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for Pater familias (2003), Naples '44 (2016) and The Early Bird Catches the Worm (2008).- Writer
- Director
- Producer
He didn't become famous until 2006, although he had been working in movies and television for over a decade. Like many other aspiring filmmakers living in the Rome area, Fausto Brizzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale, and after graduating in 1994 he started looking for work. Initially, the 28-year old was employed exclusively in the production of stage plays, and it took Brizzi another four years before he got his first major job: writing the script of the TV series _"Lui e lei" (1998)_. Other small-screen projects followed, cementing his reputation as one of Italy's most prolific screenwriters.
The transition from television to cinema took place in 1999, when renowned producer Aurelio De Laurentiis, nephew of Dino De Laurentiis, asked Brizzi to write _Tifosi (1999)_, a Christmas comedy starring Massimo Boldi and Christian De Sica. The film performed quite well at the Italian box office (as is customary with the Boldi & De Sica movies), prompting De Laurentiis to keep Brizzi on board. Fame, however, kept remaining elusive. Something different was needed...
That something was a screenplay he had written and offered to several high-profile directors, all of whom turned down the project: they didn't believe a low-budget comedy revolving around high school students graduating in 1989 would have any mainstream appeal. At this point, Brizzi took the risk of directing the film himself. This kind of decision could have ruined his career, but instead it made him a celebrity: despite, or perhaps because of, the unfamiliar names behind and in front of the camera, Notte prima degli esami (2006) became the most successful film made by a first-time director in Italian movie history. A sequel of sorts, Notte prima degli esami- Oggi (2007), was released a year later to equal success, confirming Brizzi's status as the most popular filmmaker among Italian teenagers. His new movie, Ex (2009) was a success and, after 10 nominations at David di Donatello Award, gained the Silver Ribbon for the Best Comedy in Italy.- Actor
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- Writer
Rolando Ravello is known for Perfect Strangers (2016), È per il tuo bene (2020) and Tutti contro tutti (2013).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Sergio Rubini was born on 21 December 1959 in Grumo Appula, Puglia, Italy. He is an actor and director, known for The Passion of the Christ (2004), The Station (1990) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). He was previously married to Margherita Buy.- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Giuseppe G. Stasi (director and screenwriter) and Giancarlo Fontana (director and editor) began their career in 2011, making a number of satirical videos for the web such as Inception Made in Italy and Il Processo Ruby, which enjoyed great success online, getting over one million views.
Later they make spoof trailers and shorts for the television shows Un due tre stella by Sabina Guzzanti (La7), Blob and NeriPoppins by Neri Marcorè (Rai3), and Gli Sgommati (SkyUno), sending up Italian politics, society and news.
Their first feature film, Amore Oggi, produced by Sky Cinema and broadcast on 14 February 2014 on Sky Cinema Uno, got excellent ratings and was subsequently distributed in cinemas by Warner Bros. on the occasion of the 'Cinema Days' event.
Their first official film for the cinema was Put Grandma in the Freezer, with Miriam Leone and Fabio De Luigi, written by Fabio Bonifacci and produced by Indigo Film. Released in March 2018 in 400 cinemas, it was a big hit with audiences and critics, making the top 10 for box office takings for the year and winning a nomination for the Silver Ribbon for Best Comedy of the Year.
In March 2019, Bentornato Presidente was released (the sequel to 2013's Welcome Mr. President! by Riccardo Milani), starring Claudio Bisio, Sarah Felberbaum, Pietro Sermonti, Guglielmo Poggi and Paolo Calabresi. The film gained two Silver Ribbon nominations including Best Comedy.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Giancarlo Fontana (director and editor) and Giuseppe G. Stasi (director and screenwriter) began their career in 2011, making a number of satirical videos for the web such as Inception Made in Italy and Il Processo Ruby, which enjoyed great success online, getting over one million views.
Later they make spoof trailers and shorts for the television shows Un due tre stella by Sabina Guzzanti (La7), Blob and NeriPoppins by Neri Marcorè (Rai3), and Gli Sgommati (SkyUno), sending up Italian politics, society and news.
Their first feature film, Amore Oggi, produced by Sky Cinema and broadcast on 14 February 2014 on Sky Cinema Uno, got excellent ratings and was subsequently distributed in cinemas by Warner Bros. on the occasion of the 'Cinema Days' event.
Their first official film for the cinema was Put Grandma in the Freezer, with Miriam Leone and Fabio De Luigi, written by Fabio Bonifacci and produced by Indigo Film. Released in March 2018 in 400 cinemas, it was a big hit with audiences and critics, making the top 10 for box office takings for the year and winning a nomination for the Silver Ribbon for Best Comedy of the Year.
In March 2019, Bentornato Presidente was released (the sequel to 2013's Welcome Mr. President! by Riccardo Milani), starring Claudio Bisio, Sarah Felberbaum, Pietro Sermonti, Guglielmo Poggi and Paolo Calabresi. The film gained two Silver Ribbon nominations including Best Comedy.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Marcello Macchia in art Maccio Capatonda (Vasto, August 2, 1978), is an actor, director and Italian comedian. Born in Vasto, Abruzzo, Molise as original mother of the nearby town of Montenero of Bisaccia and father of Chieti, he grew up in Chieti, is known by his stage name "Maccio Capatonda", his famous character. Starting with "no budget" projects, he participated in television programs "Mai dire Lunedì" and "Mai dire Martedì". Previously he had founded in Milan the Shortcut Productions, along with Enrico Venti. In 2013 he is the creator, director and lead actor in the television series "Mario". He studied in Perugia advertising techniques.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Roan Johnson was born on 1 January 1974 in London, England, UK. He is a writer and director, known for Feather (2016), The First on the List (2011) and So Far So Good (2014).- Writer
- Director
- Editor
Francesco Capaldo is known for Addio fottuti musi verdi (2017), Generation 56K (2021) and Lost in Google (2011).- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Alessandro Siani was born on 17 September 1975 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for Welcome to the South (2010), Il principe abusivo (2013) and Ti lascio perché ti amo troppo (2006).- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Massimiliano Bruno was born on 4 June 1970 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for Escort in Love (2011), Viva l'Italia (2012) and Ex (2009).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Antonio Manetti was born on 16 September 1970 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a director and producer, known for Love and Bullets (2017), Song of Napoli (2013) and Diabolik (2021).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Marco Manetti was born on 15 January 1968 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a director and producer, known for Love and Bullets (2017), Song of Napoli (2013) and Diabolik (2021).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Alessandro Genovesi was born on 10 January 1973 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He is an actor and director, known for My Big Gay Italian Wedding (2018), The Worst Week of My Life (2011) and When Mom Is Away (2019).- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Francesco Amato was born on 11 September 1978 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for Cosimo and Nicole (2012), Let Yourself Go (2017) and Ma che ci faccio qui! (2006).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Guido Chiesa was born on 18 November 1959 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for Il caso Martello (1991), Non mi basta mai (1999) and Babylon: la paura è la migliore amica dell'uomo (1994).- Writer
- Director
- Editor
Gianni Zanasi was born on 6 August 1965 in Vignola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Non pensarci (2007), Lucia's Grace (2018) and Nella mischia (1995).- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giulio Manfredonia is known for We Can Do That (2008), Qualunquemente (2011) and Tanti auguri (1998). He is married to Maria Rosaria Russo. They have two children.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Born in Lombardy to Sicilian parents, he studied at the Civic Drama School in Milan, then opted to pursue an acting career. His first experiences as a comedian date back to 1992, when he made his debut at the Zelig Theatre in Milan. He showcased his acts on the popular Maurizio Costanzo talk show and collaborated with actor-comedian Paolo Rossi. His popularity increased after he joined the Italia 1 show "Mai dire gol". He recently appears on the show "Che tempo che fa", presented by Fabio Fazio and aired on Rai 3. From the late 1990s, Albanese also pursued a movie career, working both as an actor, under the direction of Carlo Mazzacurati and Pupi Avati, and also as a director in his own right.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Luca Miniero was born on 17 January 1967 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for Welcome to the South (2010), Piccole cose di valore non quantificabile (1999) and A Neapolitan Spell (2002).- Writer
- Director
- Actor
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Fabio De Luigi is one of the most successful comic actors of the last years in Italy. His success began when he entered in the cast of the comic show of the Gialappa's Band. Then, he gave life to some funny and now famous characters such as the proud actor Orso Maria Wilson, the little detestable Maiuscolo but most of all, the singer Olmo. "Olmo & friends" the first CD published by the comic has been one of the best sellers of this season.- Writer
- Director
Massimo Venier is known for Il grande giorno (2022), Three Men and a Leg (1997) and Mi fido di te (2007).- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Massimo Ceccherini was born on 23 May 1965 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for Io Capitano (2023), Pinocchio (2019) and Tale of Tales (2015).- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Riccardo Milani was born on 15 April 1958 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for Il posto dell'anima (2003), Grazie ragazzi (2023) and Like a Cat on a Highway (2017). He has been married to Paola Cortellesi since 1 October 2011. They have one child.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Federico Moccia was born on 20 July 1963 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Three Steps Above Heaven (2010), Scusa ma ti chiamo amore (2008) and MYA. He has been married to Giulia La Penna since 2001. They have two children.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Gabriele Muccino was born on 20 May 1967 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for Seven Pounds (2008), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) and The Last Kiss (2001). He has been married to Angelica Russo since 22 December 2012. They have one child. He was previously married to Elena Majoni.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
- Actress
Francesca Archibugi was born on 16 May 1960 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. She is a writer and director, known for Mignon è partita (1988), Questione di cuore (2009) and Il grande cocomero (1993). She is married to Battista Lena. They have three children.- Actor
- Writer
- Composer
Checco Zalone was born on 3 June 1977 in Bari, Apulia, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for Tolo Tolo (2020), Quo vado? (2016) and What a Beautiful Day (2011).- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Giacomo Ciarrapico was born in 1971 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Eccomi qua (2002), Boris - Il film (2011) and Ogni maledetto Natale (2014).- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Mattia Torre was born on 10 June 1972 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Figli (2020), Boris - Il film (2011) and Boris (2007). He was married to Francesca Rocca. He died on 19 July 2019 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Luca Vendruscolo was born in 1966 in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Raining Cows (2002), Boris - Il film (2011) and Ogni maledetto Natale (2014).- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Carlo Mazzacurati was born on 2 March 1956 in Padua, Veneto, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for The Right Distance (2007), Another Life (1992) and La sedia della felicità (2013). He was married to Marina Zangirolami. He died on 22 January 2014 in Padua, Veneto, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Sydney Sibilia was born on 19 November 1981 in Salerno, Campania, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for I Can Quit Whenever I Want (2014), Rose Island (2020) and Mixed by Erry (2023).- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Pasquale Festa Campanile was born on 28 July 1927 in Melfi, Basilicata, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for The Leopard (1963), Rocco and His Brothers (1960) and The Four Days of Naples (1962). He was married to Anna Salvatore. He died on 25 February 1986 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giuseppe Moccia was born on 22 June 1933 in Viterbo, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for The Taming of the Scoundrel (1980), The Twelve-Handed Men of Mars (1964) and Madly in Love (1981). He died on 20 August 2006 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Neri Parenti was born on 26 April 1950 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Holidays on Mars (2020), Ma tu di che segno 6? (2014) and Natale da chef (2017).- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Pupi Avati was born on 3 November 1938 in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Gli amici del bar Margherita (2009), Giovanna's Father (2008) and The Story of Boys & Girls (1989). He has been married to Amelia Turri since 1964. They have three children.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Luca Lucini was born on 26 November 1967 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Luca is a director and producer, known for Amore, bugie & calcetto (2008), Just a Father (2008) and Just Married (2009).- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Actor, director, producer and also a singer, in the early 70s Renato formed a memorable duo with Cochi Ponzoni ("Cochi e Renato"), when together they produced many programs for Italian television, like "Quelli della domenica", "Canzonissima" and "Il poeta e il contadino".
After this experience Pozzetto worked for many important Italian directors. He made his debut in a leading role in 1974 in Flavio Mogherini's film To Love Ophelia (1974). His trademark is surreal and grotesque comedy with his characteristic awkward expression. Maybe his most brilliant performance was in _Da Grande (1987)_ which probably inspired _Big (1987)_, a film with Tom Hanks.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Very popular actor and writer in Italy. He worked in over 80 movies and TV series. Known especially for portraing the character of "Fantozzi" on several movies. Paolo Villaggio was born on December 30, 1932 in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. He was known for Fantozzi (1975) (aka Fantozzi), Fantozzi 2 (1976), Fantozzi in Heaven (1993) and the TV Series Carabinieri (2002). He was married to Maura Albites. He died on July 3, 2017 in Rome, Lazio, Italy, just 7 months after completing his last movie W gli Sposi (2019).- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Born in Rome in 1951, he is the brother of Enrico Vanzina, movie writer: the two are the sons of Steno (aka Stefano Vanzina). Carlo studied in a French school in Rome. He began his professional career in cinematography in 1969 as assistant director to his father and Mario Monicelli.- Writer
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Enrico Vanzina was born on 26 March 1949 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a writer and producer, known for Lockdown all'italiana (2020), Shock Treatment (1973) and Under the Riccione Sun (2020). He has been married to Federica Burger since 1994.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Luca Verdone was born on 5 September 1953 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for La bocca (1991), Il piacere di piacere (2002) and 7 chili in 7 giorni (1986).- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Salvatore Samperi was born on 26 July 1943 in Padua, Veneto, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for Malicious (1973), Ernesto (1979) and Smell of Flesh (1974). He was married to Francesca Bardella. He died on 5 March 2009 in Trevignano Romano, Lazio, Italy.- Production Designer
- Art Director
- Set Decorator
Flavio Mogherini was born on 25 March 1922 in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy. He was a production designer and art director, known for The Pyjama Girl Case (1977), La viaccia (1961) and Delitto passionale (1994). He died on 23 April 1994 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Editor
- Director
- Writer
Mario Morra was born in 1935 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is an editor and director, known for Cinema Paradiso (1988), The Battle of Algiers (1966) and Savage Man Savage Beast (1975).- Director
- Writer
- Production Manager
Talented, prolific and versatile writer/director Sergio Martino has made a vast array of often solid and enjoyable films in such diverse genres as horror, comedy, Western and science-fiction in a career that spans over 40 years.
Martino was born on July 19, 1938, in Rome, Italy. His grandfather was noted director Gennaro Righelli. Sergio began his cinematic career in his early 20s as an assistant to his writer/producer brother Luciano Martino and handled second unit director chores on Mario Bava's The Whip and the Body (1963), and made his directorial debut in 1969 with the mondo documentary Wages of Sin (1969). He really hit his stride in the early 1970s with several superior giallo murder mystery thrillers that usually starred popular actress Edwige Fenech (who was married to Martino's brother Luciano at the time): The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971), They're Coming to Get You! (1972), The Case of the Scorpion's Tail (1971) and Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972). Martino subsequently collaborated with Fenech on a handful of other projects, including the bubbly sex comedies Sex with a Smile (1976) and Cream Horn (1981). Other people Sergio has frequently worked with are actors George Hilton, Ivan Rassimov and Claudio Cassinelli and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi. Sergio's other worthwhile movies are the gritty spaghetti western Arizona Colt, Hired Gun (1970), the terrifically trashy Torso (1973), the rousing crime thriller The Violent Professionals (1973), the entertaining action/adventure romp Slave of the Cannibal God (1978), the fun "The Island of Dr. Moreau" rip-off The Island of the Fishmen (1979) and the funky post-nuke sci-fi/action opus 2019: After the Fall of New York (1983). He has also directed various made-for-TV features and episodes of TV shows for Italian television.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Bruno Corbucci was born on 23 October 1931 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Django (1966), Peggio per me... meglio per te (1968) and Little Italy (1978). He died on 7 September 1996 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Sergio Corbucci was born on December 6, 1926, in Rome, Italy. He entered grade school with thoughts of becoming a businessman, but after earning a college degree in economics he took an abrupt detour into the world of cinema. Corbucci began his career as a film critic, first for the Italian film journal magazine "Schermi del Mondo" and later for the US Army newspaper "Stars and Stripes" during World War II.
Corbucci made his directorial debut with Salvate mia figlia (1951) and quickly made a name for himself as a capable and efficient filmmaker. His ability to make large-scale action sequences with a minimal budget kept him in demand as an assistant director as well. It was on one such assignment, while filming with a second unit in Spain for friend and director Sergio Leone on The Last Days of Pompeii (1959), that Corbucci claims that the idea for the so-called "spaghetti western" was born. Seeing the landscape of Spain with its wild horses, extraordinary canyons and semi-desert landscapes--which looked a lot like Mexico or Texas--Corbucci suggested making an American Wild West-themed film in Spain. He then directed his first western in Spain just before Leone completed the ground-breaking A Fistful of Dollars (1964).
Corbucci found early success in Italy by directing films in a number of different genres, as disparate as Totò, Peppino e... la dolce vita (1961)--a slapstick comedy spoof of Federico Fellini's box-office hit La Dolce Vita (1960)--as well as Duel of the Titans (1961) (aka "Duel of the Titans") and Goliath and the Vampires (1961). He also wrote screenplays for a few seminal horror films, such as Castle of Blood (1964) starring Barbara Steele, which he also co-directed. However, it was his Massacre at Grand Canyon (1964) that began a new path to his career to direct more spaghetti westerns. "Massacre at Grand Canyon"--which Corbucci co-directed, under the pseudonym Stanley Corbett. with Albert Band--differed little from the American westerns of that time, but his subsequent films would set a new and bold standard for on-screen violence and establish him as one of the most influential Italian directors of the Spaghetti Western.
Minnesota Clay (1964), starring Cameron Mitchell, was Corbucci's next film in the genre and and his first Spaghetti Western to be distributed in the US under the director's own name. It was a moderate success, but Corbucci's next Spaghetti Western would break box-office records worldwide and brand his name in Western history alongside Sergio Leone. "A Fistful of Dollars' may have sparked the international popularity of the Spaghetti Western, but Corbucci's Django (1966) brought an entirely new level of style to the genre. The ultra-violent masterpiece not only signaled a move toward an even grittier and more nihilistic brand of Western, but it picture established a lasting relationship between Corbucci and the film's star, Franco Nero.
After the success of "Django", Corbucci embarked on a trail of directing more Italian Western films and quickly became one of the more prolific filmmakers in the genre. His subsequent Spaghetti Westerns, Ringo and His Golden Pistol (1966) (Johnny Oro), The Hellbenders (1967) (Hellbenders) and Navajo Joe (1966) were filmed and released in quick succession to great success in Italy. His next Western was The Great Silence (1968), which referred to Django as an "anti-Western" with the hero moving through cold rather than heat and fighting in the mud and snow rather than sweat and dust. It starred Jean-Louis Trintignant as a mute gunslinger and Klaus Kinski as a sadistic bounty hunter. The innovative script, which was co-written by Corbucci, makes great use of mountain locations (it was filmed in northern Italy in the snow-covered area of Cortina), and showed Corbucci edging close to the new type of political Westerns he is best known for.
His next Western film was The Mercenary (1968), which would began his semi-genre with what he called the "Zapata-Spaghetti Westerns" or proletarian fables, where the bad guys are on the right and the good guys are on the left. By setting the story in Mexico and fleshing out his characters with political awareness, Corbucci's intent became more clear and his left-wing political statements became more explicit. After directing the semi-successful The Specialists (1969), Corbucci re-teamed up with Franco Nero again with Compañeros (1970), which was his last box-office success and stands as one of the most accomplished Spaghetti Westerns, with a combination of humor, pathos, comic book-style action, and political commentary.
During the 1970s Corbucci made three more Spaghetti Westerns, but the popularity of the genre began to die out. Of the three, only Sonny and Jed (1972) stands out as one of the best in the late series genre Italian Westerns as a Bonnie & Clyde type fable. What Am I Doing in the Middle of a Revolution? (1972) is almost a parody of his Zapata-Spaghetti Westerns, while The White, the Yellow, and the Black (1975) is married by racial stereotypes of Japanese characters and was not well received.
By the late 1970s, with the era of Spaghetti Westerns over, Corbucci turned his film making career to comedy and found some success with, The Con Artists (1976) and Super Fuzz (1980). He continued to work off and on during the 1980s with comedies, until his death from a sudden heart attack on the late evening of December 1, 1990 at age 63. His last film was the made-for-Italian-TV-movie Donne armate (1991), which was completed a few months before his death as his health was starting to fail. Sergio Corbucci is remembered for revolutionizing the Spaghetti Western genre which was popularized by his friend Sergio Leone, who passed away a little over a year before Corbucci.- Writer
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- Additional Crew
Luigi Magni was born on 21 March 1928 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Nemici d'infanzia (1995), In the Name of the Pope King (1977) and Nell'anno del Signore (1969). He was married to Lucia Mirisola. He died on 27 October 2013 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Enrico Oldoini was born on 4 May 1946 in La Spezia, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for 13dici a tavola (2004), The Pool Hustlers (1983) and Don Matteo (2000). He died on 10 May 2023 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Edoardo De Angelis was born on 31 August 1978 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Indivisible (2016), The Vice of Hope (2018) and Perez. (2014). He is married to Pina Turco. They have one child.