Nanni Moretti

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Italian screenwriter, film director, and actor

title: "Nanni Moretti" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1953-births", "living-people", "male-actors-from-rome", "italian-film-directors", "italian-humanists", "italian-screenwriters", "italian-male-screenwriters", "italian-male-film-actors", "italian-film-producers", "cannes-film-festival-award-for-best-director-winners", "david-di-donatello-winners", "european-film-awards-winners-(people)", "nastro-d'argento-winners", "directors-of-palme-d'or-winners"] description: "Italian screenwriter, film director, and actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanni_Moretti" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Italian screenwriter, film director, and actor ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameNanni Moretti
imageNanni Moretti Cannes 2011.jpg
captionMoretti at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
birthnameGiovanni Moretti
birth_date
birth_placeBruneck, South Tyrol, Italy
occupation{{flatlist
years_active1976–present
::

| name = Nanni Moretti | image = Nanni Moretti Cannes 2011.jpg | caption = Moretti at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival | birthname = Giovanni Moretti | birth_date = | birth_place = Bruneck, South Tyrol, Italy | occupation = {{flatlist|

  • Actor
  • film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer | years_active = 1976–present

Giovanni "Nanni" Moretti (; born 19 August 1953) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is most known for his Palme d'Or winner film The Son's Room (2001) and his Special Jury Prize winner film Sweet Dreams (1981). He is also the recipient of three David di Donatello Award for Best Film, for: Caro diario in 1994, The Son's Room in 2001, and The Caiman in 2006.

Every film he directed since Caro diario has been shown at main competition of the Cannes Film Festival. In 2012 he served as the jury president of the festival's main competition.

Early life

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.

Career

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 ().

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 Special Jury Prize 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.

Having played waterpolo in the B division of the Italian championship, his experience later inspired his 1989 film Red Wood Pigeon ("palombella," which literally means "little pigeon," refers to a type of lob shot).

He may be best known for his films Caro diario (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.

The Caiman (2006) is in part about Berlusconi's controversies: in one of the three portraits of the Italian prime minister Moretti himself plays Berlusconi. His 2011 film We Have a Pope screened In Competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, follows the conclave election of new Pope.

His 2015 film Mia Madre was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. His 2021 and 2023 films Three Floors and A Brighter Tomorrow were also selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 and 2023 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. [[File:Nanni_Moretti.jpg|thumb|Nanni Moretti in 2007]]

Personal life

Even though his works have not been widely seen outside Europe, within his country, Moretti is known as a maker of wryly humorous and eccentric films, usually starring himself.

Moretti says he is not religious. In his own words: "I remember the shirts that said 'Thank God I'm an atheist'. Funny. But I do not think so. I'm not a believer and I'm sorry".

Moretti is also a famous outspoken political leftist in Italian politics. In 2002, he organized street protests against the government of Silvio Berlusconi, besides his own documentary film The Thing (La cosa), which follows the first meeting of Italian leftist militants after the Italian Communist Party's dissolution proposal in 1989.

He lives in Rome, having been resident since birth, where he is co-owner of a small movie theater, Nuovo Sacher, named like this because of Moretti's passion for Sachertorte. The short film, Il Giorno della prima di Close Up (Opening Day of Close-Up, 1996), shows Moretti at his theatre attempting to encourage patrons to attend the opening day of Abbas Kiarostami's film, Close Up.

In April 2025, Moretti was hospitalised after suffering a heart attack.

Filmography

Feature films

::data[format=table]

YearEnglish titleOriginal titleNotes1976197719781981198419851989199319982001200620112015202120232026
I Am Self SufficientIo sono un autarchico
Un autarchico a palazzoTV movie
Ecce bombo
Sweet DreamsSogni d'oroSpecial Jury Prize at the 38th Venice International Film Festival
Sweet Body of BiancaBianca
The Mass Is EndedLa messa è finitaSpecial Jury Prize at the 36th Berlin International Film Festival
Red Wood PigeonPalombella Rossa
Caro diarioBest Director at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival
AprilAprile
The Son's RoomLa stanza del figlioPalme d'Or winner
The CaimanIl caimano
We Have a PopeHabemus Papam
Mia Madre
Three FloorsTre piani
A Brighter TomorrowIl sol dell'avvenire
It Will Happen TonightSuccederà questa nottePost-production
::

Short films

  • La sconfitta (1973)
  • Pâté de bourgeois (1973)
  • The Only Country In The World (L'unico paese al mondo, 1994)
  • Opening Day of Close-Up (Il Giorno della prima di Close Up, 1996)
  • The Last Customer (2002)
  • Il grido d'angoscia dell'uccello predatore (2003)
  • L'ultimo campionato (2007 short)
  • Diary Of A Moviegoer (Diario di uno spettatore, 2007 short of To Each His Own Cinema)
  • Film Quiz (2008)
  • Scava dolcemente l'addome (2013)
  • Autobiografia dell'uomo mascherato (2013)
  • Ischi allegri e clavicole sorridenti (2017)
  • Piazza Mazzini (2017)

Documentaries

  • Come parli frate? (1974 medium)
  • The Thing (La cosa, 1990 medium)
  • Santiago, Italia (2018)

Actor only

Awards

References

References

  1. (2007). "501 Movie Directors". Cassell Illustrated.
  2. [[Giampiero Mughini]], [http://cinema-tv.corriere.it/cinema/07_novembre_21/moretti_festival_torino_2179e44c-981d-11dc-89d7-0003ba99c53b.shtml ''«Moretti, il poeta organizzatore»''], ''[[Corriere della Sera]]'', 21 November 2007
  3. Valerie Sanders, [http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/books/the-bourgeois-between-history-and-literature-by-franco-moretti/2005020.article ''The Bourgeois: Between History and Literature by Franco Moretti''], ''[[Times Higher Education]]'', 27 June 2013
  4. "Berlinale: 1986 Prize Winners". berlinale.de.
  5. "Festival de Cannes: The Son's Room". festival-cannes.com.
  6. (17 November 2001). "Nanni Moretti profile". The Guardian.
  7. "Festival de Cannes: Official Selection". festival-cannes.com.
  8. "2015 Official Selection". Cannes.
  9. [http://www.style.it/peopleshow/luci-della-ribalta/2011/05/13/cannes--nanni-moretti-sono-ateo-e-un-po--mi-dispiace.aspx Interview for Style] Quanto al suo rapporto con la religione: "Ricordo le magliette con la scritta 'Grazie a Dio sono ateo'. Divertenti. Ma io non la penso così. Non sono credente e mi dispiace"
  10. "la Repubblica/cinema: Sacher: l'impero di Moretti dedicato a una torta".
  11. (6 April 2025). "Italian director Moretti leaves hospital after heart attack". France 24.
  12. Roxborough, Scott. (2025-06-17). "Nanni Moretti Teaming With Louis Garrel, Jasmine Trinca on New Film".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1953-birthsliving-peoplemale-actors-from-romeitalian-film-directorsitalian-humanistsitalian-screenwritersitalian-male-screenwritersitalian-male-film-actorsitalian-film-producerscannes-film-festival-award-for-best-director-winnersdavid-di-donatello-winnerseuropean-film-awards-winners-(people)nastro-d'argento-winnersdirectors-of-palme-d'or-winners