Giancarlo Bocchi is an Italian filmmaker, producer, and writer known for his work in documentaries and feature films, often focusing on themes of war, human rights, and art. Born in
Parma
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
,
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 ...
, he studied Art History at the
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...
during the 1970s while engaging in contemporary art and music projects. During this time, he collaborated with artists such as
Man Ray
Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...
and intellectuals like
Jean Baudrillard
Jean Baudrillard (, ; ; – 6 March 2007) was a French sociology, sociologist and philosopher with an interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as well as hi ...
and
Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida;Peeters (2013), pp. 12–13. See also 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was a French Algerian philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in a number of his texts, ...
. He also founded magazines dedicated to art and music.
Early work
Bocchi began his career in the early 1980s with experimental video art and documentaries. His first documentary, ''Guerra alla guerra'' (1982), featured
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. An author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, and ...
and
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...
. He went on to create a series of documentaries about influential artists such as Francis Bacon,
Francis Picabia
Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typography, typographist closely associated with Dada.
When consid ...
, and
, as well as collaborations with surrealist masters
Paul Delvaux
Paul Delvaux (; 23 September 1897 – 20 July 1994) was a Belgian painter noted for his dream-like scenes of women, classical architecture, trains and train stations, and skeletons, often in combination. He is often considered a surrealist, alt ...
and
André Masson
André-Aimé-René Masson (; 4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist.
Biography
Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brus ...
.
Documentaries on conflict
From the 1990s onward, Bocchi shifted his focus to documenting global conflicts and human rights issues. He filmed in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Kosovo, and Palestine. His works include:
''Mille giorni di Sarajevo'' (1996), which won the First Prize at the Arcipelago Film Festival in Rome.
''Fuga dal Kosovo'' (1999), nominated for the Rory Peck Award in London.
''Wars'' (2010), which received the Premio Libero Bizzarri for Best Italian Production.
Bocchi documented the lives of
Subcomandante Marcos
Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente (born 19 June 1957) is a Mexican insurgent, the former military leader and spokesman for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in the ongoing Chiapas conflict,Pasztor, S. B. (2004). "Marcos, Subcoman ...
in Viaggio nel Pianeta Marcos* and Afghan commander
Ahmad Shah Massoud
Ahmad Shāh Massoud (2 September 19539 September 2001) was an Afghan militant leader and politician. He was a guerrilla commander during the resistance against the Soviet occupation during the Soviet–Afghan War from 1979 to 1989. In the 19 ...
in ''Il Leone del Panshir''.
Feature films
In 2004, Bocchi directed ''
Nema problema'', a feature film set in Bosnia that explores the complexities of war through the journey of a journalist and his companions. The film received the Best Director at the
Alexandria International Film Festival
The Alexandria International Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries (AIFF) is a film festival in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1979. The festival is organized by the Egyptian Association of Film Writers and Critics (EAFWC).
The AIF ...
.
Recent work
Bocchi recently completed ''Il Ribelle'', a documentary on
Guido Picelli, an Italian anti-fascist revolutionary. This project involved three years of research and premiered at the
Filmoteca Española
The Filmoteca Española () is an official institution of the Spanish Ministry of Culture. Its objective is to restore, investigate and conserve the film heritage of Spain and its diffusion. It is part of the Institute of Cinematography and Audio ...
in Madrid. He is currently working on a documentary highlighting the stories of women from conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Chechnya, Western Sahara, and Colombia.
Awards and recognition
Giancarlo Bocchi's work has won awards at festivals in ellaria, Trieste, Mannheim-Heidelberg, and Annecy.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bocchi, Giancarlo
Italian filmmakers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)