Roberto Faenza
Encyclopedia
Roberto Faenza is an Italian
film director
.
Born in Turin in 1943, Roberto Faenza received a degree in Political Science and a diploma at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.
He made his directing debut in 1968 with the international success, Escalation, a film that describes the different sides of power through the relationship between a middle-class father and his hippie son. Immediately after that he directed H2S, an angry apology of the 1968 movement, seized two days after its release and not distributed since. Upon this sequestration he travelled to the United States to teach at the Federal City College of Washington DC.
In 1978 he directed Forza Italia!, a ferocious satire on the power of the Italian Christian Democrat party covering thirty years of Italian political history. The film was withdrawn from the theatres on the day Aldo Moro
, President of the Christian Democrats, was kidnapped, and remains banned for over 15 years. Aldo Moro being the one who will end his life recommending (in his handwritten memoirs found in the den of the Red Brigades
in via Monte Nevoso in Milan
) to see the film “if one wants to realize the recklessness of his fellow party members”.
In 1980 Faenza chose the Italian Communist Party as subject matter with Si salvi chi vuole. Considered as a politically incorrect director, he was forced to work outside of Italy
to be able to find financing: in 1983 he filmed Copkiller in New York
with Harvey Keitel
, Nicole Garcia
and the leader of the Sex Pistols
, Johnny Rotten.
His activities are not limited to cinema: author of essays and books (best known among them: Senza chiedere permesso, Il malaffare, Gli americani in Italia), upon his return in Italy he starts teaching Mass Communication at Pisa University. After Copkiller he became inspired by literature as a source of stories.
In 1990 he directed The Bachelor, based on a short story by Arthur Schnitzler
with a wide cast of profiled actors: Keith Carradine
, Miranda Richardson
, Kristin Scott Thomas
and Max von Sydow
. In 1993 he directed Jonah who Lived in the Whale starring BAFTA winning actress Juliet Aubrey for which he was awarded the David di Donatello
for Best Director. Two years later another novel (this time by Antonio Tabucchi
) was the source: Sostiene Pereira
, Marcello Mastroianni
’s last Italian film, the latter awarded with a David di Donatello
as Best Leading Actor. In 1997 he directed Marianna Ucria based on the novel La lunga vita di Marianna Ucria by Dacia Maraini
. In 1999 he directed The Lost Lover, inspired by the bestseller by Abraham B. Yehoshua about the ongoing clash between Jews
and Palestinians. In 2003 he received international success with The Soul Keeper, based on the burning passion between Carl Gustav Jung and his young Russian patient Sabina Spielrein
.
His most recent films are: Come into the Light, about the life of Pino Puglisi
, the parish priest killed in Palermo
by the mafia
in 1993, played by Luca Zingaretti
(Nomination European Academy Award (EFA) as Best Director 2005; David Giovani Best Film Award; Flaiano Best Leading Actor Award and Audience Award for the Best Film; Best Leading Actor Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2005; San Fedele Best Film Award); The Days of Abandonment, inspired on the novel by Elena Ferrante
, with Margherita Buy
, Luca Zingaretti and the musician Goran Bregovic
. I Vicerè based on the 1894 novel by Federico De Roberto
was released in 2007.
In 2010 Jean Vigo Italia announced a film based
on the book Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You
directed by Roberto Faenza and co-written with Peter Cameron
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
.
Born in Turin in 1943, Roberto Faenza received a degree in Political Science and a diploma at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.
He made his directing debut in 1968 with the international success, Escalation, a film that describes the different sides of power through the relationship between a middle-class father and his hippie son. Immediately after that he directed H2S, an angry apology of the 1968 movement, seized two days after its release and not distributed since. Upon this sequestration he travelled to the United States to teach at the Federal City College of Washington DC.
In 1978 he directed Forza Italia!, a ferocious satire on the power of the Italian Christian Democrat party covering thirty years of Italian political history. The film was withdrawn from the theatres on the day Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....
, President of the Christian Democrats, was kidnapped, and remains banned for over 15 years. Aldo Moro being the one who will end his life recommending (in his handwritten memoirs found in the den of the Red Brigades
Red Brigades
The Red Brigades was a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation, based in Italy, which was responsible for numerous violent incidents, assassinations, and robberies during the so-called "Years of Lead"...
in via Monte Nevoso in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
) to see the film “if one wants to realize the recklessness of his fellow party members”.
In 1980 Faenza chose the Italian Communist Party as subject matter with Si salvi chi vuole. Considered as a politically incorrect director, he was forced to work outside of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to be able to find financing: in 1983 he filmed Copkiller in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
, Nicole Garcia
Nicole Garcia
Nicole Garcia is a French actress, film director and writer. Her film Selon Charlie was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.-Actress:*1968: Des garçons et des filles directed by Étienne Périer...
and the leader of the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
, Johnny Rotten.
His activities are not limited to cinema: author of essays and books (best known among them: Senza chiedere permesso, Il malaffare, Gli americani in Italia), upon his return in Italy he starts teaching Mass Communication at Pisa University. After Copkiller he became inspired by literature as a source of stories.
In 1990 he directed The Bachelor, based on a short story by Arthur Schnitzler
Arthur Schnitzler
Dr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian...
with a wide cast of profiled actors: Keith Carradine
Keith Carradine
Keith Ian Carradine is an American actor who has had success on stage, film and television. In addition, he is a Golden Globe and Oscar winning songwriter. As a member of the Carradine family, he is part of an acting "dynasty" that began with his father, John Carradine.-Early life:Keith...
, Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
, Kristin Scott Thomas
Kristin Scott Thomas
Kristin A. Scott Thomas, OBE is an English actress who has also acquired French nationality. She gained international recognition in the 1990s for her roles in Bitter Moon, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The English Patient....
and Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow is a Swedish actor. He has also held French citizenship since 2002. He has starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more...
. In 1993 he directed Jonah who Lived in the Whale starring BAFTA winning actress Juliet Aubrey for which he was awarded the David di Donatello
David di Donatello
David di Donatello, named after Donatello's David, is a movie award assigned each year for cinematic performances and production by Ente David di Donatello, part of Accademia del Cinema Italiano. It is the Italian equivalent to the Academy Award. There are 24 categories as of 2006.- History :The...
for Best Director. Two years later another novel (this time by Antonio Tabucchi
Antonio Tabucchi
Antonio Tabucchi is an Italian writer and academic who teaches Portuguese language and literature at the University of Siena, Italy....
) was the source: Sostiene Pereira
Sostiene Pereira
Sostiene Pereira is a 1996 Italian drama film directed by Roberto Faenza. It is based on Antonio Tabucchi's novel of the same title.Marcello Mastroianni won the David di Donatello as Best Actor.-Plot:...
, Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross was an Italian film actor. His honours included British Film Academy Awards, Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival and two Golden Globe Awards.- Personal life :...
’s last Italian film, the latter awarded with a David di Donatello
David di Donatello
David di Donatello, named after Donatello's David, is a movie award assigned each year for cinematic performances and production by Ente David di Donatello, part of Accademia del Cinema Italiano. It is the Italian equivalent to the Academy Award. There are 24 categories as of 2006.- History :The...
as Best Leading Actor. In 1997 he directed Marianna Ucria based on the novel La lunga vita di Marianna Ucria by Dacia Maraini
Dacia Maraini
Dacia Maraini is an Italian writer. She is the daughter of Sicilian Princess Topazia Alliata di Salaparuta, an artist and art dealer, and of Fosco Maraini, a Florentine ethnologist and mountaineer of mixed Ticinese, English and Polish background who wrote in particular on Tibet and Japan...
. In 1999 he directed The Lost Lover, inspired by the bestseller by Abraham B. Yehoshua about the ongoing clash between Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and Palestinians. In 2003 he received international success with The Soul Keeper, based on the burning passion between Carl Gustav Jung and his young Russian patient Sabina Spielrein
Sabina Spielrein
Sabina Naftulovna Spielrein , born 7 November 1885, died 12 August 1942] , was one of the first female psychoanalysts. She studied under Carl Gustav Jung, with whom she was rumored to have had a romantic relationship...
.
His most recent films are: Come into the Light, about the life of Pino Puglisi
Pino Puglisi
Giuseppe 'Pino' Puglisi was a Roman Catholic priest in the rough Palermo neighbourhood of Brancaccio. He openly challenged the Mafia who controlled the neighbourhood, and was killed by them on his 56th birthday...
, the parish priest killed in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
by the mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
in 1993, played by Luca Zingaretti
Luca Zingaretti
Luca Zingaretti is an Italian actor, known for playing Salvo Montalbano in Il commissario Montalbano mystery series based on the character and novels created by Andrea Camilleri. Zingaretti is a native of Rome...
(Nomination European Academy Award (EFA) as Best Director 2005; David Giovani Best Film Award; Flaiano Best Leading Actor Award and Audience Award for the Best Film; Best Leading Actor Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2005; San Fedele Best Film Award); The Days of Abandonment, inspired on the novel by Elena Ferrante
Elena Ferrante
Elena Ferrante is an Italian writer.She is an extremely reclusive writer and as such not much is known of her true identity or her current location. It has been postured that Ferrante is in fact a pen name for the male Italian writer Domenico Starnone. There is much speculation as to this on...
, with Margherita Buy
Margherita Buy
Margherita Buy is an Italian actress born in Rome on 15 January 1962.-Overview:After a long period of studying at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, she made her breakthrough role in Duccio Tessari's Una grande storia d'amore , which was followed by roles in Daniele Luchetti's two projects Domani...
, Luca Zingaretti and the musician Goran Bregovic
Goran Bregovic
Goran Bregović is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Balkans. He currently splits his time between Paris and Belgrade, where he settled down during the Yugoslav Wars.Bregović has composed for such varied artists as Iggy Pop and Cesária Évora...
. I Vicerè based on the 1894 novel by Federico De Roberto
Federico De Roberto
Federico De Roberto was an Italian writer, who became well known for his novel I Vicerè . He began his writing career as a journalist for national newspapers, where he met Giovanni Verga and Luigi Capuana, the most prominent writers of the Verismo style. Verga introduced him into the literary...
was released in 2007.
In 2010 Jean Vigo Italia announced a film based
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You is an upcoming comedy-drama film directed by Roberto Faenza and starring Toby Regbo and Ellen Burstyn based on Peter Cameron's novel of the same name...
on the book Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You is a fiction young adult novel by Peter Cameron. James Sveck, the protagonist, tells the reader about his life, including the reasons he became the "Missing Misfit" and is seeing the psychiatrist.-Plot:...
directed by Roberto Faenza and co-written with Peter Cameron
Peter Cameron
Peter Cameron may refer to:* Dr Peter Cameron , Church of Scotland minister convicted of heresy by the Presbyterian Church of Australia* Peter Cameron , American novelist...
.