EMANUELE CRIALESE

Emanuele Crialese was born in Rome, in 1965, from Sicilian parents. He studied at New York University, where he graduated in 1995. After filming several shorts, he made his feature debut in 1997, ONCE WE WERE STRANGERS, an Italian-American co-production, financed by a producer who had noticed Crialese during his apprenticeship in the United States. Between 1998 and 2000, Crialese also worked in the theater, still in the United States, and alongside producer Bob Chartoff (the same of Raging Bull and New York New York) on the drafting of a film treatment on Ellis Island. Following are the feature films GRAZIA’S ISLAND, in competition in Giffoni in 2002, and NUOVOMONDO, both set in Sicily, films that obtained considerable success with national and international critics and audiences. After being a member of the Jury at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, in 2011, again in Venice, he presented TERRAFERMA, which deals with illegal immigration from Africa to Italy. In 2014 he received the National Culture of Peace Award and in 2022 he returned to the Venice Film Festival with L’IMMENSITÀ, with Penelope Cruz and Vincenzo Amato, set in the 70s.