Matteo Garrone is an Italian film director, screenwriter, producer, cameraman, artist and actor. Winner of the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals, the European Film Academy, Ente David di Donatello. Nominated for the British Academy, Cesar and Berlin Festival awards.
In the creative biography of Matteo - 15 directorial works, which brought him worldwide fame and fame. His films have been repeatedly presented at famous film festivals, received awards and nominations, arousing the admiration of film critics and audiences.
For almost all of Garrone's films, the scripts were written by him. He also produced 10 films, worked as an artist in the films "Guests" and "Mediterranean", played a small role in the comedy melodrama "Cayman".
Biography facts
Matteo was born in the fall of 1968 in Italy into a creative family. His father Niko was a theater critic and photographer, and his mother Donatella Rimoldi was an actress. Maternal grandfather, Adriano Rimoldi, was also an actor. Among Garrone's relatives, many belonged to the art world and worked in theater or cinema. That is why the boy from early childhood was carried away by creativity. He was especially attracted by the movie camera, with which he never parted during his school years.
Tennis became another hobby of Garrone. He attended sports school and participated in many youth competitions. True, he never thought about a professional career, although he still perfectly owns the racket and loves to attend tennis tournaments.
The young man received his education in Rome at the Academy of Theater, Film and Television, where he studied cinematography, painting, directing, drama and acting.
Later Matteo devoted his life to art. For several years, starting in 1986, he worked as an artist. He came to cinematography in the mid-1990s.
Film career
Garrone's first success came in 1996. He directed the short film Silhouette and won the Sacher d'Oro Grand Prize. In those years, he was supported by one of the famous representatives of cinema, Nanni Moretti, and it was he who decided to award the honorary first place to Matteo, being the founder of the short film festival.
In the same year, Garrone's feature film Mediterranean was presented at the Turin Film Festival, where he acted as a director, screenwriter, producer and artist.
The director gained wide popularity after the release of the drama "Taxidermist". After that, they began to talk about him as a world-class professional cinematographer.
Many believe that today the pinnacle of the director's work is the film "Gomorrah", which was released in 2008. The picture was presented at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix. In addition, the film won a European Film Academy award and was nominated for the César, British Academy, Golden Globe and Palme d'Or awards at the Cannes Film Festival.
The plot is based on a novel by the Italian writer Roberto Saviano about the criminal activities of an organization called "Camorra", which has power at all levels. After the release of the picture, the Neapolitan mafia issued a death sentence to the author of the book, and he was forced to be under constant police protection.
While working on the film, Garrone communicated with real representatives of the mafia, real "godfathers". They made an indelible impression on him and, interestingly, Matteo even became the husband of the daughter of one of the representatives of the mafia structure.
Personal life
There is practically no information about Garrone's personal life. It is known that he was in a relationship with producer and director Nuzia de Stefano for several years and they have a common son, Nicolas.
