Life and career

Born in Bagheria

Bagheria

Bagheria is a town and comune in the Province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy.-Etymology:According to some sources, the name Bagheria originates from the Phoenician term Bayharia meaning "land that descends toward the sea." Other sources claim that it derives from the Arabic Bāb al-Gerib, or "windy...

 near Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

, Tornatore developed an interest in acting and the theatre from at least the age of 16 and put on works by Luigi Pirandello

Luigi Pirandello

Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...

 and Eduardo De Filippo

Eduardo De Filippo

Eduardo De Filippo was an Italian actor, playwright, screenwriter, author and poet, best known for his Neapolitan works Filumena Marturano and Napoli Milionaria.-Biography:...

.

He worked initially as a freelance photographer. Then, switching to cinema

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, he made his debut with Le minoranze etniche in Sicilia (The Ethnic Minorities in Sicily), a collaborative documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 which won a Salerno Festival prize. He then worked for RAI

RAI

RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...

 before releasing his first full-length film, Il Camorrista, in 1985. This evoked a positive response from audience and critics alike and Tornatore was awarded the Silver Ribbon for best new director

Nastro d'Argento Best New Director

A list of Nastro d'Argento awards for Best New Director.*1974 - Marco Leto - La villeggiatura*1975 - Luigi Di Gianni - Il tempo dell'inizio*1976 - Ennio Lorenzini - Quanto è bello lu murire acciso*1977 - Giorgio Ferrara - Un cuore simplice...

.

Tornatore's best known screen work was released in 1988: Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

Nuovo cinema Paradiso , internationally released as Cinema Paradiso, is a 1988 Italian drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore...

, a film narrating the life of a successful film director who has returned to his native town in Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 for the funeral of an old friend. This obtained worldwide success and won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...

. Subsequently Tornatore released several other films cementing his place in film history.

Filmography

Written and directed

• 1986: The Professor (Il camorrista)
  The Professor (1986 film)
  Il camorrista is a 1986 Italian drama directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. His film debut, it is based on a Giuseppe Marrazzo novel...
  
  
• 1988: Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso)
• 1990: Everybody's Fine (Stanno tutti bene)
  Stanno tutti bene
  Everybody's Fine is a 1990 Italian drama film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore who co-wrote the screenplay with Tonino Guerra and Massimo De Rita....
  
  
• 1991: Especially on Sunday (segment "Il cane blu")
• 1994: A Pure Formality (Una pura formalità)
  A Pure Formality
  A Pure Formality is a 1994 thriller film directed and written by Giuseppe Tornatore. It stars Gérard Depardieu as a reclusive writer and Roman Polanski as a police detective.-Plot summary:...
  
  
• 1995: The Star Maker (L'uomo delle stelle)
  The Star Maker
  The Star Maker is a 1995 Italian language motion picture. It was produced by Rita Cecchi Gori, Vittorio Cecchi Gori, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, while the title role was played by Sergio Castellitto.It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.-Plot:In 1953, Joe...
  
  
• 1995: Lo schermo a tre punte (documentary)
• 1996: Ritratti d'autore: seconda serie documentary)
• 1998: The Legend of 1900 (La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano)
  The Legend of 1900
  The Legend of 1900 is a 1998 film directed by the Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore, starring Tim Roth. This is Tornatore's first English-language film. The film is inspired by a theater monologue, Novecento, by Alessandro Baricco...
  
  
• 2000: Malèna
  Malèna
  Malèna is a 2000 Italian romantic drama film starring Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro. It was directed and written by Giuseppe Tornatore from a story by Luciano Vincenzoni.-Plot:...
  
  
• 2006: The unknown woman (La sconosciuta)
  La sconosciuta
  La sconosciuta also The Unknown Woman or The Other Woman is an enigmatic Italian psychological thriller mystery film, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore that depicts a woman alone in a foreign country, haunted by a horrible past, and in search of a lost daughter.- Plot :Irena , a Ukrainian...
  
  
• 2009: Baarìa - La porta del vento
  Baarìa - La porta del vento
  Baarìa is a 2009 Italian film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival in September 2009.-Plot:...
  
  
• TBA: Leningrad
• 2011: Il Mago di Esselunga (The Wizard of Esselunga)

Only written

• Cento giorni a Palermo
  Cento giorni a Palermo
  Cento giorni a Palermo is a 1984 non-fiction film directed by Giuseppe Ferrara with Giuseppe Tornatore as screenplay writer. The film is a France/Italy coproduction and tells about the last hundred days in the life of the Italian "Generale dei Carabinieri" and anti-mafia highest authority Carlo...
  
  ("Cent jours à Palerme"), directed by Giuseppe Ferrara
  Giuseppe Ferrara
  Giuseppe Ferrara is an Italian film director and screenwriter. His 1987 film The Moro Affair was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival, where Gian Maria Volonté won the Silver Bear for Best Actor....
  
   (1984) - identified as Peppuccio Tornatore

External links