Part of the screenwriting Collective Bandite, with four other ladies I am developing documentary and series projects.
As a screenwriter, in September 2022 I am one of the five women who made it to the final for the first edition of Al femminile, premio cinematografico Ilaria Branca di Romanico (with Società Umanitaria, Milano), with the original screenplay SurrealKiller. Here the five trailers.
During the pandemic lockdown, with the italian-scottish screenwriter Inga Sempel I worked as a director for her short film The Other Truth, planned in 2020, shot and edited in 2021-2022. The short film, out in 2023 for a Festival season, won already the Ethereal Film Festival (thank you!).
I am currently part of the Ladies Cultural Association Calliope uno sguardo sull'arte (Calliope, a gaze on art): we teach art through performances, lectures-shows and videos. Art is one, it just happens to be spoken in many languages. It can be fun and fascinating. It is part of our every-day life and has the therapeutic power to change us. I use my voice for the Spotify's podcast Arte ad occhi chiusi (Eyes quite shut).
I currently teach filmmaking at the Primary and Secondary School as a freelance as part of the Collettivo artistico Hic et Nunc. I currently work as well as a freelance for Università degli Studi di Padova, department of Mobilities Studies. From 2017 to 2019 I worked as a freelance filmmaker for MIC Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, leading workshops with children and seniors and producing short films.
I have the pleasure to collaborate with Writers Guild Italia as a writer in a research journey upon screenwriting.
In september 2022 is out a book, a critical analysis of the Netflix series Squid Game for Dino Audino Editore. I am one of the happy three authors. In February 2024, I co-wrote Rocky, the screenplay of Sylvester Stallone, the analysis of why this is one of the most successful movies of all times. In between, I work with Dino Audino Editore as a writer and translator.
From 2016 to 2020 I shot and edited the feature-length documentary Amore, chi sei? (My darling, who are you?) filmed within the Pavilion for People with Special Needs in Ustì nad Orlici (Czech Republic), which is part of a public assistance facility for people with Alzheimer's disease prioritising kindness as a therapy strategy. The film is been awarded with Exceptional merit in the Doc Without Borders Film Festival (USA, spring 2021), won in his cathegory the Impact Doc Awards Festival (USA, summer 2021), has been selected for the 2022 Switzerland International Film Festival and has been pre-selected for the 2022 DUMBO Film Festival (New York).
In 2017 I had the privilege to direct and edit the performance of a group fo 64 children and three teachers from a Secondary School in an intense journey into history: All about Brundibar is a documentary film about Terezìn concentration camp (CZ), where the operetta Brundibar was performed by the prisoners for 54 nights before the whole lot was sent to Auschwitz.
In the 2016 my short film Quattro Note per Strada (Four notes on the road), featuring a cameo from Giacomo Poretti (part of the comedian trio Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo) was selected at the Golden Bridge International Film Festival in Moscow (Russia) and at the MusicanZone in Ancona (Italy). At the same time, my co-directed short film Cà Brutta, Trenta Legami Una Diva (Ca' Brutta, thirty relations, one diva) won the third place in the #OVSartsofitaly videocontest and was screened during the 73rd Venice Film Festival.
I self published the book Sarajevo maybe, 1994, the story of three trips with Unprofor planes to besieged Sarajevo, during the brief truce in 1994. The second (new) edition of the book is on sale at Hoepli bookshop in Milan (Italy) and online at www.hoepli.it with the proceeds going entirely to the solidarity association SenzaConfine for their social projects.
From 1990 to 1996 I was founding member of the theatre company Teatro Ibis, which invited director Šemsudin Gegić and his family over from besieged Sarajevo, and staged his and his daughter's play Sarajevo's Sibyl, which premiered in 1995 at the Franco Parenti Theatre in Milan (Italy) and it was included as a special event in the ScenaPrima Festival in Milan (Italy).
In the 2015 my original screenplay Cinderella's Syndrome won the Laugh or Die Comedy Fest (Dekalb, USA).
Since 2000 I have been a volunteer for Survival International.
Born in 1971, I live and work in Milan, Italy. In 2006 I graduated cum laude in directing at the University Alma Mater, DAMS (Art, Music and Performing Arts Department) in Bologna, Italy. In 2015 I graduated in screenwriting at the London Film Academy (UK) and in 2016 at the Luchino Visconti Civica Scuola di Cinema (Milan).
I am currently working on two projects: one is super secretive, the other is this.
You can contact me at giovanna.volpi@libero.it