Close

At an academic convocation on Monday (Jan. 29) at its Rome Global Gateway, the University of Notre Dame conferred honorary degrees on three distinguished leaders: Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums; Bishop Brian Farrell, L.C., secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; and Roberto Benigni, an internationally acclaimed act...

681

Venice won the Leone d’Oro. The 78th edition of the Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica has been truly special: it managed to overcome the pandemic,  gathering into one embrace the world of international cinema to celebrate together on the laguna. It has also emphasized this is a golden moment for Italian cinema and its ability to stir emo...

573

The 78th Venice Film Festival opened on Wednesday with the world premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers,” starring Penélope Cruz and Milena Smit, who strutted down the walled-in red carpet alongside other top talent, and Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella. Venice has been forced to place a wall-like outer barrier shielding the long catwa...

608

Italian director Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio is not the sunny, cheery cartoon tale of your childhood memories. The Gomorrah auteur's darker, yet thrillingly fantastical adaptation remains true to Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, which began as a weekly series of cautionary children's tales set in the impoverished Tuscan countryside. Cost...

966

Matteo Garrone said he was savouring the "historic" success of his 2019 adaptation of Pinocchio after it won two Oscar nominations - for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The director refused to be drawn into the debate about why the film, which stars Roberto Benigni as Gepetto, had not been been chosen to be Italy's candidate fo...

748

The Venice Film Festival said Thursday it will give its lifetime achievement award this year to Oscar-winning director and actor Roberto Benigni. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement is to be awarded at the 78th edition of the world’s oldest film festival, scheduled for Sept. 1-11 on the Lido. Benigni wrote, directed and starred in “La Vita e B...

744

Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio got two Oscar nominations for costumes and make-up Monday while Laura Pausini's 'Io sì' (Seen) from the latest Sophia Loren film got a nod for best song. Pinocchio was nominated for the costumes by Italy's Massimo Cantini Parrini and make-up by Briton Mark Coulier, an Oscar winner for The Iron Lady and The Grand Budapest...

936

Roberto Benigni was born near the town of Arezzo (Tuscany) on October, 27th, 1952. He comes from humble and simple origins. In fact, his parents were farmers. Still, Benigni always had an outgoing, charismatic, and explosive personality. During his teenage years, he started writing poems and he even went on tour with a writing group. During their s...

896

With a new “Pinocchio,” Roberto Benigni is again making history. He was the first non-English speaking male actor to win an Oscar for his Italian masterpiece “Life Is Beautiful” (‘97), which also won Benigni a second Oscar for Best Foreign Language Picture. Back in 2002 Benigni directed and played the wooden puppet who wants to become a real boy in...

1302

Historically, Italy has given a lot to the art of filmmaking and Americans have always been fascinated by “Cinema Italiano” and by Italian films finding it and its craftsmanship unique and inspiring.  Of course, the Academy has also been very receptive to the films produced in Italy and indeed, as of 2014, Italy is the country that has won more Osc...

1291