Biography

Paolo Franchi was born in Bergamo. After completing an honors degree in Literature and Philosophy, specializing in psychoanalytic art criticism, he graduated as a film director from the renowned Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Italy's national school of cinema. His graduation thesis is the only one to have been selected at the 1994 Venice Film Festival. He worked as an assistant to Nanni Loy, Francesco Maselli and Peter Del Monte, and attended select workshops by Mauro Bolognini, Giorgio Arlorio and Ermanno Olmi.

He made several short films including the docufiction "Frammenti di Sapienza" about the Italian writer Goliarda Sapienza, who featured as herself. The documentary competed at the 1995 Venice Film Festival and other major international cinema events, winning several awards.

In 2004, Franchi signed his feature-length debut film "La Spettatrice", the only Italian film to compete at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, founded by Peter Scarlet and Robert De Niro. The film earned global critical acclaim, and participated in numerous festivals (from Montreal to the Edinburgh Film Festival, from the Chicago International Film Festival to the Tokyo Film Festival, from Paris Cinema to New York's Syracuse International Film Festival).

Overall, the film garnered 21 awards worldwide including:

• Italian Golden Globe for best first feature
• Grolla d'Oro St. Vincent for artistic innovation
• Cicae Best Film Award at the Annecy Festival
• First prize from the jury at the Villerupt Festival
• Rosa Camuna best film award at the Bergamo Film Meeting 2004
• Fac 2004 Award for best European debut (Italian critics' union)
• Best Film Award and Best Screenplay at the Syracuse International Film Festival, New York

Franchi was, moreover, a nominee as best new director at Italy's premier Nastro d'Argento awards and the David di Donatello awards of 2005.

In 2007, Franchi signed his second feature film "Nessuna qualità agli eroi". The film was nominated best film of the year at the 64th Venice Film Festival, arousing controversial critical reaction coupled with great admiration from the international press (Variety, Screen International, and Positif to name a few). The film participated in numerous international festivals (from Villerupt to the Busan International Film Festival, from Annecy to Mons) and earned no less than four Italian Golden Globe nominations in 2008: best film, best actor (Elio Germano), best film script - and best director of the year to Paolo Franchi.

In 2012, he signed his third feature film "E la chiamano estate", causing a stir in the media. Amid dissension and applause, the film won two prizes at the Rome International Film Festival: the award for best actress to Isabella Ferrari and the Marc Aurelio Award for best direction to Paolo Franchi.

In 2017, Franchi made the film "Dove non ho mai abitato". The film was enthusiastically received by Italian and foreign critics and earned numerous awards including the Mario Gallo award, the Capri Hollywood award, the Ciak d'Oro best film award, the Italian Golden Globe for best soundtrack - and nomination for best film of the year. The film also received three Nastro d'Argento nominations, including best director of 2018. The film was the only Italian representative at the official Golden Goblet Awards of the Shanghai International Festival 2018 where it competed for best film.

- IMDb mini biography by: Angeliqa Devi