Nanni Moretti

Nanni Moretti

Born: August 19, 1953
in Bruneck, Italy
Giovanni "Nanni" Moretti (Italian pronunciation: [ˈnanni moˈretti]; born 19 August 1953; Brunico) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. The Palme d'Or winner in 2001, in 2012 he was the President of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival. His films have won accolades including a Palme d'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival for "The Son's Room", a Silver Bear at the 1986 Berlin Film Festival for "The Mass is Ended" and a Silver Lion at the 1981 Venice Film Festival for "Sweet Dreams", in addition to the David di Donatello Award for Best Film on three occasions (for "Caro diario" in 1994, "The Son's Room" in 2001 and "Il caimano" in 2006).

Moretti was born in Bruneck, Italy to Roman parents who were both teachers. His father was the late epigraphist Luigi Moretti, a Greek teacher at Sapienza University of Rome. His brother is literary scholar Franco Moretti. While growing up Moretti discovered his two passions, the cinema and water polo. Having finished his studies he pursued a career as a producer, and in 1973 directed his first two short films: Pâté de bourgeois and The Defeat (La sconfitta). In 1976, Nanni Moretti's first feature film Io sono un autarchico (I Am Self-Sufficient) was released. In 1978, he wrote, directed and starred in the movie Ecce Bombo, which tells the story of a student having problems with his entourage. It was screened at the Cannes Festival. Sogni d'oro won the Silver Lion at the 38th Venice International Film Festival. La messa è finita won the Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize at the 36th Berlin International Film Festival. He may be best known for his films Caro diario (Dear Diary, 1993; followed in 1998 by a sequel, Aprile) and La stanza del figlio (The Son's Room, 2001), the latter of which won the Palme d'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.

Moretti has used certain actors several times in his films, generally playing minor roles. His father Luigi appears in 6 films, Dario Cantarelli and Mauro Fabretti in 5, Antonio Petrocelli in 4. More notable Italian actors he has employed frequently in his films include Silvio Orlando, who appears in 5 films (including the role of protagonist in Il caimano) and Laura Morante, who was featured in Sogni d'oro, Bianca and The Son's Room.[citation needed]. Having played waterpolo in the B division of the Italian championship, his experience later inspired his film Palombella Rossa ("palombella," which literally means "little pigeon," refers to a type of lob shot). His other work has not been widely seen outside Europe, but within his country Moretti is known as a maker of wryly humorous and eccentric films, usually starring himself. His most recent role was in the film Mia Madre (My Mother, 2015) Moretti is also an outspoken political leftist. In 2002, he organized street protests against the government of Silvio Berlusconi. Il caimano (2006) is in part about Berlusconi's controversies: in one of the three portraits of the Italian prime minister Moretti himself plays Berlusconi. Aprile also deals with Italy's political situation and Moretti's views on it. His 2011 film We Have a Pope screened In Competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Movies for Nanni Moretti...

A Brighter Tomorrow
Title: A Brighter Tomorrow
Character: Giovanni
Released: April 20, 2023
Type: Movie
An old film director unhappy with the movie he's shooting about a Hungarian circus stranded in Rome during the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising faces divorce from his producer wife and other problems.
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Franco Battiato - La voce del padrone
Title: Franco Battiato - La voce del padrone
Released: November 28, 2022
Type: Movie
Documentary by Marco Spagnoli.
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The Hummingbird
Title: The Hummingbird
Character: Daniele Carradori
Released: October 14, 2022
Type: Movie
Everyone in Marco's life seems constantly restless, from his brilliant but unhappily married parents to his own wife Marina, or even Luisa, the real love of his life, a girl he met during a fateful summer in the '70s and always stayed in touch with. Tragedy and fate seem to haunt him, yet he somehow manages never to get ensnared in the chaos—like his namesake, “the hummingbird”, he focuses all his energy at standing still.
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Las Leonas
Title: Las Leonas
Character: Sé stesso
Released: August 31, 2022
Type: Movie
The story of a group of women immigrants in Rome, the majority from South America, working as caregivers or house cleaners, and all of them avid soccer fans. The film follows them during the Las Leonas Trophy matches and shares with us their private lives, jobs, perspectives, hopes, and expectations over the course of their very busy days.
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We Are Cinema
Title: We Are Cinema
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: December 16, 2021
Type: Movie
An Italian documentary about Italian cinema.
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Senza troppo recitare la follia
Title: Senza troppo recitare la follia
Released: December 2, 2021
Type: Movie
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Three Floors
Title: Three Floors
Character: Vittorio
Released: September 23, 2021
Type: Movie
Follows the lives of three families who live in a three-story building in a Roman neighbourhood.
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Santiago, Italia
Title: Santiago, Italia
Character: Self
Released: December 6, 2018
Type: Movie
After the coup d'État of the Democratic government of Allende, the embassy of Italy in Santiago played a major role in helping the opposers of the regime, and extradited many of them to Italy.
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Dalla quercia alla palma - 40 anni di Padre Padrone
Title: Dalla quercia alla palma - 40 anni di Padre Padrone
Character: Himself
Released: October 10, 2017
Type: Movie
Memories and anecdotes of the making of "Padre Padrone"
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Cheerful Ischia and Smiling Collarbones
Title: Cheerful Ischia and Smiling Collarbones
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 2017
Type: Movie
Nanni Moretti talks about films while he works out with a personal trainer.
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Evviva Giuseppe
Title: Evviva Giuseppe
Character: Himself
Released: January 1, 2017
Type: Movie
The life and work of Giuseppe Bertolucci, as told by his father and brother, friends and colleagues.
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Piazza Mazzini
Title: Piazza Mazzini
Released: January 1, 2017
Type: Movie
Nanni Moretti talks about the making of Ecce bombo while working out with his personal trainer.
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Just a Movie: On the Set of 'Mia Madre'
Title: Just a Movie: On the Set of 'Mia Madre'
Character: Self
Released: November 15, 2016
Type: Movie
A documentary on the making of Mia Madre (2015).
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Venanzio Revolt: I miei primi 80 anni di cinema
Title: Venanzio Revolt: I miei primi 80 anni di cinema
Character: Narrator
Released: March 9, 2016
Type: Movie
The producer and writer from Turin, Lorenzo Ventavoli, talks to his friend, the critic Steve Della Casa, in a brilliant conversation that touches on the most diverse subjects, from Yiddish cinema and his encounters with Bunuel, Bergman, and Woody Allen.
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The Legend of the Palme d'Or
Title: The Legend of the Palme d'Or
Character: Self
Released: May 20, 2015
Type: Movie
From Martin Scorsese to Jane Campion, from Emir Kusturica to Quentin Tarantino, some of the greatest recipients of this trophy recall special moments relating to the award ceremony which closes the Cannes Film Festival. This film brings to light moving and personal stories, as surprising as they are varied, which all contribute to further enhancing the legend of the Palme d’Or.
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Mia madre
Title: Mia madre
Character: Giovanni
Released: April 16, 2015
Type: Movie
Margherita, a director in the middle of an existential crisis, has to deal with the inevitable and still unacceptable loss of her mother.
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Girlfriend in a Coma
Title: Girlfriend in a Coma
Character: Himself
Released: November 26, 2012
Type: Movie
Girlfriend in a Coma is a documentary that exposes the dire situation of Italian politics and the process of economic and social decline the country has suffered during the last two decades, treating the decline as a warning of what might happen elsewhere in the West. The decline has occurred amid a collapse of moral values and the victory of “Mala Italia” over “Buona Italia”. It has been lauded as being ground-breaking in its creative combination of animation, interviews and hard facts, and has caused fierce controversy in Italy.
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A Special Day
Title: A Special Day
Character: Self
Released: May 16, 2012
Type: Movie
At the 60th anniversary of Cannes Film Festival, 34 famous directors are followed by camera.
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Voi siete qui
Title: Voi siete qui
Character: Self
Released: September 8, 2011
Type: Movie
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We Have a Pope
Title: We Have a Pope
Character: Dott. Brezzi
Released: April 15, 2011
Type: Movie
The newly elected Pope suffers a panic attack just as he is about to greet the faithful who have gathered to see him. His advisors, unable to convince him he is the right man for the job, call on a renowned therapist who also happens to be an atheist. But the Pope's fear of his newfound responsibility is one he must face alone. Winner Best Film at the Italian Golden Globes.
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Quiet Chaos
Title: Quiet Chaos
Character: Pietro Paladini
Released: February 8, 2008
Type: Movie
Pietro is a successful businessman with a wife and a daughter. One day he helps his brother save two women from drowning at the beach. When he returns home he finds that his wife has died. Now Pietro has to take care of his daughter, Claudia. When he drives her to school soon after, he decides to wait for her all day in front of the school, and soon that's what he does every day.
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Film Quiz
Title: Film Quiz
Character: Himself
Released: January 1, 2008
Type: Movie
Nanni Moretti speaks of the forty films that have inspired him.
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To Each His Own Cinema
Title: To Each His Own Cinema
Character: Nanni Moretti (segment "Diario di uno spettatore")
Released: October 31, 2007
Type: Movie
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.
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Diary of a Moviegoer
Title: Diary of a Moviegoer
Character: self
Released: May 19, 2007
Type: Movie
Moretti's contribution to "Chacun son cinema"
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Say Something Left-Wing
Title: Say Something Left-Wing
Character: Himself
Released: January 1, 2007
Type: Movie
The filmmaker Nanni Moretti recounts the story of his relationship with politics, both through his films and his political activism.
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The Last Championship
Title: The Last Championship
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 2007
Type: Movie
The last game of water polo.
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The Caiman
Title: The Caiman
Character: Nanni Moretti / Silvio Berlusconi
Released: March 24, 2006
Type: Movie
Bruno Bonomo was a famous producer of B-movies in the ‘70s. After a long hiatus, Bonomo offers a screenplay to RAI centered on the figure of Italy’s prime minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, a subject so controversial that even the public television broadcaster refuses to produce it
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Te lo leggo negli occhi
Title: Te lo leggo negli occhi
Character: Cliente negozio
Released: September 3, 2004
Type: Movie
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I nostri trent'anni - Generazioni a confronto
Title: I nostri trent'anni - Generazioni a confronto
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 2004
Type: Movie
Various generations of filmmakers talk about what cinema means for them.
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Anguish Cry of Predator Bird
Title: Anguish Cry of Predator Bird
Character: Self
Released: April 16, 2003
Type: Movie
A selection of deleted scenes from Nanni Moretti's 1998 film "Aprile".
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Fellini: I'm a Born Liar
Title: Fellini: I'm a Born Liar
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: April 2, 2003
Type: Movie
A look at Fellini's creative process. In extensive interviews, Fellini talks a bit about his background and then discusses how he works and how he creates. Several actors, a producer, a writer, and a production manager talk about working with Fellini. Archive footage of Fellini and others on the set plus clips from his films provide commentary and illustration for the points interviewees make. Fellini is fully in charge; actors call themselves puppets. He dismisses improvisation and calls for "availability." His sets and his films create images that look like reality but are not; we see the differences and the results.
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The Son's Room
Title: The Son's Room
Character: Giovanni
Released: March 9, 2001
Type: Movie
A psychoanalyst and his family go through profound emotional trauma when their son dies in a scuba diving accident.
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Aprile
Title: Aprile
Character: Self
Released: March 27, 1998
Type: Movie
Nanni Moretti takes another look at the ebbs and flows of life in April 1996, as he becomes a father for the first time and seems unable to focus on his documentary about the upcoming national elections.
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Three Lives and Only One Death
Title: Three Lives and Only One Death
Released: May 15, 1996
Type: Movie
Four intertwining stories of bizarre occurrences in Paris featuring a man who was stolen away by fairies, a professor who becomes a tramp, the lovers who inherit a chateau – and the last tale that connects all that has gone before.
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Opening Day of Close-Up
Title: Opening Day of Close-Up
Character: Himself
Released: February 9, 1996
Type: Movie
At his cinema in Rome, the Nuovo Sacher, Nanni Moretti anxiously oversees preparations for the premiere of the film Close-up, by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. Meanwhile Disney's The Lion King is taking Italy by storm.
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The Second Time
Title: The Second Time
Character: Alberto Sajevo
Released: October 26, 1995
Type: Movie
A convicted terrorist out on parole meets the man she nearly killed 15 years before without recognizing him. He does so but decides to keep quiet and starts to spend time with her — desperate to know the motivation behind her violent acts.
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The Only Country In The World
Title: The Only Country In The World
Character: Cesare Botero / Self
Released: December 31, 1994
Type: Movie
Anthology short film with segments by nine directors against Silvio Berlusconi and its Forza Italia party — released ahead of the 1994 Italian general elections, which Berlusconi nevertheless won in a landslide. In Nanni Moretti's segment, he and Silvio Orlando reprise their roles from The Yes Man (1991).
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Caro diario
Title: Caro diario
Character: Nanni Moretti
Released: October 12, 1993
Type: Movie
Nanni Moretti recalls in his diary three slice of life stories characterized by a sharply ironic look: in the first one he wanders through a deserted Rome, in the second he visits a reclusive friend on an island, and in the last he has to grapple with an unknown illness.
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Caro Nanni
Title: Caro Nanni
Character: Himself
Released: January 1, 1993
Type: Movie
Making of "Caro Diario"
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The Yes Man
Title: The Yes Man
Character: Cesare Botero
Released: April 5, 1991
Type: Movie
Cesare Botero, an ambitious and corrupt young minister, hires a new spokesman, honest and polite high school professor Luciano Sandulli.
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Palombella Rossa
Title: Palombella Rossa
Character: Michele Apicella
Released: September 15, 1989
Type: Movie
Michele is a Communist MP who loses his memory in a car crash—although nobody seems to notice. Over the course of a water polo match ahead of election day, he begins to remember his past life, revealing the picture of a man whose personal and political identity crisis mirrors the one of Italian communism.
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It's Happening Tomorrow
Title: It's Happening Tomorrow
Character: Matteo, il carbonaio
Released: May 18, 1988
Type: Movie
1848, Tuscan countryside. Edo and Lupo are two peasants running away after having robbed their boss. Chased by mercenaries, they'll meet bandits, damsels in distress, eccentric nobles, and revolutionaries along the way.
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The Mass Is Ended
Title: The Mass Is Ended
Character: Don Giulio
Released: November 15, 1985
Type: Movie
The young priest Father Giulio returns to Rome, his hometown, after a long pilgrimage. Don Giulio hopes to live peacefully with his family and his friends, but discovers that many of them are depressed or frustrated, and some suicidal.
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Bellissimo: Images of the Italian Cinema
Title: Bellissimo: Images of the Italian Cinema
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1985
Type: Movie
A documentary about the Italian cinema as art form and industry.
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Riso in bianco – Nanni Moretti atleta di se stesso
Title: Riso in bianco – Nanni Moretti atleta di se stesso
Character: Self
Released: September 13, 1984
Type: Movie
Part interview, part monologue, part documentary with Nanni Moretti talking about his work.
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Bianca
Title: Bianca
Character: Michele Apicella
Released: February 23, 1984
Type: Movie
Eccentric and full of manias, Michele is a young high school professor who defines himself as “not used to happiness”. He realizes his life is meaningless if he doesn’t have a woman by his side but, after a series of rather disastrous experiences, he feels more alone than ever. Then, out of the blue, a new French teacher called Bianca arrives at school. Amongst uncertainties and contradictions, the two start dating. In the meantime, a series of homicides take place and a police officer begins to suspect that Michele is involved. Bianca will save him providing an alibi at the right moment, but then, everything goes wrong again.
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Sweet Dreams
Title: Sweet Dreams
Character: Michele Apicella
Released: September 10, 1981
Type: Movie
Michele criticizes the film industry and its inhabitants, and is particularly embattled with a Neapolitan director making a musical about the 1968 student demonstrations. At the same time, Michele has a creative block and struggles to finish his film titled "Freud’s Mother." Nanni Moretti’s self-inquiry into filmmaking, political ennui, and men’s relations with their mothers.
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Ecce Bombo
Title: Ecce Bombo
Character: Michele Apicella
Released: March 8, 1978
Type: Movie
Michele, Goffredo, Mirko and Vito are four friends who have participated in the battles of the student in Sixties. Now in the Seventies, the four friends don't know what to do, though young and with so many possibilities to find a job in life. Intellectuals marginalized and misunderstood, the four friends find themselves when they can in a restaurant to discuss their outlandish theories. A girl named Olga disrupts their life, but Michele is her favorite, although he does not know what to do with the girl.
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Padre Padrone
Title: Padre Padrone
Character: Cesare
Released: May 20, 1977
Type: Movie
The true story of the life of Gavino Ledda, the son of a Sardinian shepherd, and how he managed to escape his harsh, almost barbaric existence by slowly educating himself, despite violent opposition from his brutal father.
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An Autarchic at 'Palazzo'
Title: An Autarchic at 'Palazzo'
Character: Himself
Released: February 16, 1977
Type: Movie
A short about the film "I Am Self-Sufficient"
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I Am Self-Sufficient
Title: I Am Self-Sufficient
Character: Michele Apicella
Released: December 14, 1976
Type: Movie
Michele Apicella lives in Rome, in an apartment paid for by his father. Abandoned by his wife and his son Andrea, he occupies his time acting in an experimental theater company under the artistic direction of his friend Fabio.
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How Do You Speak, Brother?
Title: How Do You Speak, Brother?
Character: Don Rodrigo
Released: January 1, 1974
Type: Movie
A parody of Manzoni's canonical 19th-century novel "I promessi sposi" (The Bethroded) from the point of view of the villain Don Rodrigo, who, however, in this upended version of the story is the victim rather than the perpretator of the violence.
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Defeat
Title: Defeat
Released: December 1, 1973
Type: Movie
Demonstrations of metalworkers, students, and their allies on the left, seen from the point of view of an increasingly disillusioned young leftist. Film produced for Nuova Sinistra.
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Bourgeois Pâté
Title: Bourgeois Pâté
Character: Il ragazzo con la cinepresa
Released: January 1, 1973
Type: Movie
A story of a group of friends and a couple in crisis, exposing the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie.