Matteo Garrone (born October 15, 1968) is an Italian filmmaker. His notable works include Gomorrah (2008), Reality (2012), Tale of Tales (2015), Dogman (2018), Pinocchio (2019) and Io capitano (2023). He is a ten-time David di Donatello Award (3 for Best Film, 4 for Best Director, 3 for Best Screenplay) and three-time Nastro d'Argento Award winner, among other accolades.
Early life and education Matteo Garrone was born in Rome, Italy, the son of a theatre critic, Nico Garrone and a photographer, Donatella Rimoldi. His maternal grandfather is actor Adriano Rimoldi. He is graduate of Liceo Artistico Ripetta.
Career In 1996 Garrone won the Sacher d'Oro, an award sponsored by Nanni Moretti, with the short film Silhouette, that became one of the three episodes that are on his first long feature, Terra di Mezzo in 1997.
Garrone won the European Film Award for Best Director and the David di Donatello for Best Director for Gomorrah (2008). His film Reality (2012) won the Grand Prix at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
His films Tale of Tales (2015) and Dogman (2018) were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and the 2018 Cannes Film Festival respectively. The Nastro d'Argento awarded Garrone both Best Producer and Best Director for Dogman. He received the latter again for Pinocchio (2019).
In 2019, Garrone was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2024, his film Io capitano (2023) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, representing Italy.
Filmography
Director
Short films Silhouette (1996) Bienvenido espirito santo (1997) Un caso di forza maggiore (1997) Oreste Pipolo, fotografo di matrimoni (1998) Before Design: Classic (2016) Delightful (2017) Entering Red (2019) Le mythe Dior (2020) The Tarot Deck (Le château du tarot) (2021)
Feature films 1996 – Terra di mezzo 1998 – Guests (Ospiti) 2000 – Roman Summer (Estate romana) 2002 – The Embalmer (L'imbalsamatore) 2003 – First Love (Primo amore) 2008 – Gomorrah (Gomorra) 2012 – Reality 2015 – Tale of Tales (Il racconto dei racconti) 2018 – Dogman 2019 – Pinocchio 2023 – Io capitano
Producer Silhouette (1996) Terra di mezzo (1996) Ospiti (1998) Estate romana (2000) Mid-August Lunch (2008)
Awards and nominations Award Year Category Film Result Academy Awards 2024 Best International Feature Film (representing Italy) Io capitano BAFTA Film Awards2009Best Film Not in the English LanguageGomorrah2019Dogman British Independent Film Awards2008Best Foreign Independent FilmGomorrah Cannes Film Festival2008Grand Prix2012Reality Capri Hollywood International Film Festival2023Humanitarian AwardIo capitano César Awards2009Best Foreign FilmGomorrah David di Donatello 2019 Best Film Dogman Best Director Best Original Screenplay 2020 Best Film Pinocchio Best Director Best Adapted Screenplay 2024 Best Film Io capitano Best Director Best Original Screenplay European Film Awards 2008 European Director Gomorrah European Screenwriter 2018 European Film Dogman European Director European Screenwriter 2023 European Film Io capitano European Director Golden Globe Awards 2009 Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language Gomorrah 2024 Io capitano Independent Spirit Awards 2009 Best Foreign Film Gomorrah Nastro d'Argento2018Best DirectorDogman2020Pinocchio Polish Film Award2019Best European FilmDogman Venice Film Festival2023Silver LionIo capitano
Collaborators Garrone likes to work with the same team of filmmakers, often hiring cast and crew from his previous films. Regular members of the 'team' include:
Collaborators Terra di mezzo Guests Roman Summer The Embalmer First Love Gomorrah Reality Tale of Tales Dogman Pinocchio I'm capitanMarco Onorato (Cinematographer)Marco Spoletini (Editor)Domenico Procacci (Producer)Jean Labadie (Producer)Jeremy Thomas (Producer)Paolo Bonfini (Production designer)Dimitri Capuani (Production designer)Massimo Cantini Parrini (Costume designer)Banda Osiris (Composer)Alexandre Desplat (Composer)Massimo Gaudioso (co-writer)Ugo Chiti (co-writer)Maricetta Lombardo (Sound)Ciro Petrone (actor)
References
Bibliography Luciana d'Arcangeli, ‘Fatalmente tua: Garrone, il noir e le donne’, in the special issue “An Eye on Italy” on Italian Cinema of the e-journal Flinders University Languages Group Online Review – FULGOR, Volume 5, Issue 3, June 2018, pp. 14–26 - https://www.fulgor.online/vol5-issue3-2018-forthcoming Luciana d'Arcangeli. "The Films of Matteo Garrone: Italian Cinema Is Not Embalmed" in William Hope (ed) "Italian Film Directors in the New Millennium". Cambridge, Cambridge Scholars Press, 2010, pp. 175–187. Pierpaolo De Sanctis, Domenico Monetti, Luca Pallanch. "Non solo Gomorra. Tutto il cinema di Matteo Garrone", Rome, Edizioni Sabinae, 2008.
External links
Official website