Giuseppe Tornatore

Giuseppe Tornatore(born 27 May 1956) is an Italianfilm directorandscreenwriter. Born inBagherianearPalermo, Tornatore developed an interest in acting and the theatre from at least the age of 16 and put on works byLuigi PirandelloandEduardo De Filippo. He worked initially as a freelance photographer. Then, switching to cinema, he made his debut withLe minoranze etniche in Sicilia(The Ethnic Minorities in Sicily), a collaborative documentary film which won a Salerno Festival prize. He then worked forRAIbefore releasing his first full-length film,Il Camorrista, in 1985. This evoked a positive response from audience and critics alike and Tornatore was awarded theSilver Ribbonforbest new director. Tornatore's best known screen work was released in 1988:Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, a film narrating the life of a successful film director who has returned to his native town inSicilyfor the funeral of his mentor. This obtained worldwide success and won anAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.Subsequently Tornatore released several other films. In 2007 he won the Silver George for Best Director at the29th Moscow International Film FestivalforThe Unknown Woman.