Domenico Distilo (born 25 December 1978 in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) is a filmmaker living and working between Rome, Italy and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He graduated in

film direction A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision. The director has a key role in ch ...

from the

Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia The (; CSC), also referred to as the (), is an Italian national film school headquartered in Rome, with satellite educational hubs in five other Italian regions. It was established in 1935 and aims to promote the art and technique of cinemat ...

in Rome with the film '' Unexpected (Inatteso)'', a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

on the demand for

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

in Italy, which was screened at the

Festival dei Popoli A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival constitutes ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and at the

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

, within the section "Forum" in 2006. In 2008, he won the national prize Premio Solinas for the

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

of the

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

''When elephants fight (Quando gli elefanti combattono)'', written in collaboration with Filippo Gravino and Guido Iuculano. In 2009, he joined the

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

Sciara, where he works as

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and producer. In 2011, he directed two documentaries for

RAI 3 Rai 3 (formerly Rai Tre) is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It was launched on 15 December 1979 and its programming is centred towards cultural a ...

, the Italian cultural public channel: ''Urban extremes - Jerusalem (Estremi urbani, Gerusalemme)'', on the territorial conflict in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and ''Romany imaginary - Minority artists (Immaginario Rom - Artisti Contro)'', on Romany art in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Distilo's works generally focus on social issues, with a special interest in various forms of

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

. In his movie ''

Deep time Deep time is the concept of geological time that spans billions of years, far beyond the scale of human experience. It provides the temporal framework for understanding the formation and evolution of Earth, the development of life, and the slo ...

(Margini di sottosuolo)'' (2011), he explored the boundaries between documentary and fiction with a story on

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeolo ...

and the feelings that bound people to their past. In 2018 his documentary ''Manga Do, Igort and the way of the manga'' won the audience award at the

Biografilm Festival Biografilm Festival is an international film festival held in Bologna, Italy, dedicated to biographies, documentaries, and life stories. Profile The festival was founded in 2005. Fully titled ''International Celebration of Lives'', it focuses ...

in Bologna. The film tells the journey of Igort, one of the most important Italian

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

authors, in the founding places of

Japanese culture Japanese culture has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Since the Jomon period, ancestral ...

. The film follows a previous

reportage Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

, ''Igort, the secret landscape'' (2013), which tells the story of Igort's search for the creation of his trilogy on the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Prizes and awards

* In 2000 his

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''Entrevias'' won the first prize at the ''

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, 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 216,918 inhabitants ...

Film Festival'' * In 2006 '' Unexpected (Inatteso)'' won the first prize as best documentary at ''

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

Film Festival'' and received the jury's special mention at the ''Arcipelago - Festival Internazionale di Cortometraggi e Nuove Immagini'' of Rome * In 2008 the screenplay from ''When elephants fight (Quando gli elefanti combattono)'' won the first prize at the event Premio Solinas * In 2011 Distilo won the ''Premio maestri del documentario'' at the ''Assaggi di realtà'' festival of

* In 2018 ''Manga Do, Igort and the way of the manga'' was awarded the Audience award at the Biografilm Festival in Bologna

Filmography

Documentaries

* ''A day in Rome (Un giorno a Roma)'', (2001), produced by

* ''Tiburtina tells (Tiburtina racconta)'', (2005) * ''Dialogues for Refugees (Dialoghi di Profughi)'', (2005) * '' Unexpected (Inatteso)'', (2005), produced by Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia * ''CAM Selinunte'', (2008), produced by Sciara * ''The Calm and the Storm'', (2010) * ''Urban Extremes – Jerusalem (Estremi urbani - Gerusalemme)'', (2011), produced by Sciara * ''Romany imaginary - Minority artists (Immaginario Rom - Artisti contro)'', (2011), produced by Sciara * ''

(Margini di Sottosuolo)'', (2011), produced by Sciara * ''Igort, the secret landscape'', (2013), produced by Sciara * ''Manga Do, Igort and the way of the manga'', (2018) produced by Sciara

Short films

* ''Entrevias'', (2000) * ''Bartleby, the scrivener (Bartleby, lo scrivano)'', (2004), an adaptation from

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

's homonym tale produced by

* ''Laura in Lampedusa (Laura a Lampedusa)'', (2009), produced by

Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship television channel and is known for broadcasting ...

for the programme "Vivo per te - 150 anni della Croce Rossa", broadcast on 25 December 2009 * Bettgeflüster (Pillow Talk), (2021) , short film comedy, German Leads. Presented at the "late-night-love" section of the PÖFF SHORTS,

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (BNFF), or PÖFF (Pimedate Ööde filmifestival), is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. PÖFF is one of the largest film festivals in Northern Europe. In 2014, it was ...

2021

Projects

* ''The rope over the sea (Dawaz: la fune sul mare)'', a documentary with Adili Wuxiuer''Dawaz, con la fune sul mare c' è il funambolo Adili Wuxiuer''
/ref> * ''When elephants fight (Quando gli elefanti combattono)'', movie

References

External links

Sciara production company's web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Distilo, Domenico Italian film directors 1978 births Living people Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia alumni