Roberta Torre (born 21 September 1962) is an Italian

film director 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 Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. In 1997 she won the

Nastro d'argento The (plural: ''Nastri d'Argento''; English: Silver Ribbon) is an Italian film award, held since 1946 by the ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani'' (Italian National Union of Film Journalists). Awards are given annually in ...

for best new director with her first film, ''Tano da morire'' ("To Die for Tano"). The film entered the 54th Venice International Film Festival, winning the FEDIC Award, the Kodak Award and the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for best directorial debut film. The film also won two

David di Donatello The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David (Donatello, bronze), David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (the Academy of Italian Cin ...

(for best score and best new director) and two other

Nastro d'Argento The (plural: ''Nastri d'Argento''; English: Silver Ribbon) is an Italian film award, held since 1946 by the ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani'' (Italian National Union of Film Journalists). Awards are given annually in ...

for best score and best supporting role (an award given to the entire female cast).

Biography

Roberta Torre was born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. She studied Acting and Drama in Scuola d’Arte Drammatica Paolo Grassi, then Directing and Screenwriting in Casa del Teatro e del Cinema. There she met

Ermanno Olmi Ermanno Olmi (24 July 1931 – 7 May 2018)Lane, John Francis (May 7, 2018).Ermanno Olmi obituary. ''The Guardian''. theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 May 2018. was an Italian film director and screenwriter best known for directing '' Il Posto'' ( ...

, whom she refers to as the person who mostly shaped her artistic views and perception. In 1990, Torre moved to

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, where she lived and worked for 10 years. In that period, she mostly focused on documentaries and short films. In 1990, she directed ''Tempo da buttare'' which won Aiace award at the

51st Venice International Film Festival The 51st annual Venice International Film Festival was held on 1 September to 12 September, 1994. American filmmaker David Lynch was the Jury President of the main competition. The Golden Lion winners were '' Before the Rain'' directed by Milch ...

. In 1994, she released ''Senti amor mio?'' and ''Le anime corte'' shorts. In 1996, she presented her documentary ''La vita a volo d’angelo'' at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

. Her first feature film, '' To Die for Tano'', was screened at the 54th Venice International Film Festival and brought her FEDIC Award, the Kodak Award and the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for best directorial debut film, as well as two

(for best score and best new director) and three

(best score, best new director and best supporting role, an award given to the entire female cast). In 2013, she was invited as an artist in residence to

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. In the following year, she led a postgraduate course on drama, art production and directing at Mills College at Northeastern University. In 2022, her film ''Le favolose'', premiered at the

Giornate degli Autori The Giornate degli Autori (; 'Authors' Days') or simply the Giornate, formerly also known in English as Venice Days, is an independent section of Venice Film Festival. Anac and 100autori are engaged to support and promote the Giornate. It was fou ...

in Venice. The film was well received by audience and critics, it was screened at numerous film festivals around the world and acclaimed at the Tokyo Film Festival and the London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. ''Le favolose'' brought Torre Best Director Award in the Envision section at

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Description IDFA is an independent, international meeting place for audiences ...

. Torre received Celebration of Lives Award at 2023 Biografilm Festival in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Selected filmography

Documentaries and shorts

* (2009)

Feature films

* '' To Die for Tano'' (1997) * ''Sud Side Stori'' (2000) * ''Il viaggio lungo di Arul, Rani e Vivetas'' (2002) * '' Angela'' (2002) * ''La malacanzone'' (2005) * ''Mare nero'' (2006) * '' Lost Kisses'' (2010) * '' Bloody Richard'' (2017) * ''Mi fanno male i capelli'' (2023)

TV series

* ' (2019)

References

Sources

External links

* 1962 births Living people Italian film directors Italian screenwriters Film people from Milan Nastro d'Argento winners Ciak d'oro winners Italian women film directors {{Italy-film-director-stub