Gianni Amelio

Directing

Gianni Amelio

Born

1945-01-20 (81)

Place of birth

Magisano, Catanzaro, Italy

Known for

Directing

Credits

44 titles

Gianni Amelio (born 20 January 1945; Catanzaro) is an Italian film director. His film "The Way We Laughed" (1998) won a Golden Lion at the 55th Venice Film Festival. Amelio was born in San Pietro di Magisano, province of Catanzaro, Calabria. His father moved to Argentina soon after his birth. He spent his youth and adolescence with his mother and his grandmother. The absence of a paternal figures will be a constant in Amelio's future works. During his university studies of philosophy in Messina, Amelio got interested in cinema, writing as film critic for a local magazine. In 1965 he moved to Rome, where he worked as operator and assistant director for figures such as Liliana Cavani and Vitt…

Known for

Lord of the Ants poster
7.2

Based on true events of the late 60s in Italy, poet, playwright and myrmecologist Aldo Braibanti is prosecuted and sentenced to prison for the love he shares with his barely-of-age pupil and friend, Ettore. Amidst a chorus of voices of accusers, supporters and a largely hypocritical public, a single committed journalist takes on the task of piecing together the truth, between secrecy and desire, facing suspicion and censorship in the process.

Lord of the Ants

2022

The Stolen Children poster
7.6

Antonio, a policeman (carabiniere), has an order to take two children (Rosetta and her brother Luciano) from Milan to Sicily to an orphanage. Their mother has been arrested for forcing Rosetta (11 years old) to work as a prostitute. First the relation between Antonio and the children is tough, but it relaxes so they become temporary friends.

The Stolen Children

1992

No Pain poster
6.8

Davide’s life is turned upside down by a tragic event for which he bears an unwitting responsibility. Devastated by guilt, he is driven to a series of seemingly irrational choices that gradually lead him toward profound consequences. Yet, through his deep emotional bond with Elsa, Davide may still find an unexpected path to peace.

No Pain

2026

The Way We Laughed poster
6.8

Studying to become a teacher in 1950s Northern Italy, Sicilian immigrant Pietro is joined by his big brother Giovanni. Pietro shows considerable promise in his field, prompting illiterate Giovanni to take on even the toughest jobs in order to support his sibling's academic pursuits.

The Way We Laughed

1998

Lamerica poster
7.2

In post-communist Albania, two Italian con artists establish a fictitious shoe factory to embezzle government funds. When their elderly Albanian figurehead disappears, the younger accomplice sets out to find him, embarking on a journey that confronts him with the country's poverty and troubled past.

Lamerica

1994

Open Doors poster
7.3

Tommaso Scalia is a man who commits three murders: he kills his superior who sacked him, the man who replaced him and his wife. He wants a quick trial and an early execution, but an earnest, principled assistant judge looks for a way to save the murderer from being shot, because he does not belive in capital punishment.

Open Doors

1990

Film credits

Behind the camera

Lord of the Ants poster
7.2

Based on true events of the late 60s in Italy, poet, playwright and myrmecologist Aldo Braibanti is prosecuted and sentenced to prison for the love he shares with his barely-of-age pupil and friend, Ettore. Amidst a chorus of voices of accusers, supporters and a largely hypocritical public, a single committed journalist takes on the task of piecing together the truth, between secrecy and desire, facing suspicion and censorship in the process.

Lord of the Ants

2022

Lord of the Ants poster
7.2

Based on true events of the late 60s in Italy, poet, playwright and myrmecologist Aldo Braibanti is prosecuted and sentenced to prison for the love he shares with his barely-of-age pupil and friend, Ettore. Amidst a chorus of voices of accusers, supporters and a largely hypocritical public, a single committed journalist takes on the task of piecing together the truth, between secrecy and desire, facing suspicion and censorship in the process.

Lord of the Ants

2022

The Stolen Children poster
7.6

Antonio, a policeman (carabiniere), has an order to take two children (Rosetta and her brother Luciano) from Milan to Sicily to an orphanage. Their mother has been arrested for forcing Rosetta (11 years old) to work as a prostitute. First the relation between Antonio and the children is tough, but it relaxes so they become temporary friends.

The Stolen Children

1992

The Stolen Children poster
7.6

Antonio, a policeman (carabiniere), has an order to take two children (Rosetta and her brother Luciano) from Milan to Sicily to an orphanage. Their mother has been arrested for forcing Rosetta (11 years old) to work as a prostitute. First the relation between Antonio and the children is tough, but it relaxes so they become temporary friends.

The Stolen Children

1992

The Stolen Children poster
7.6

Antonio, a policeman (carabiniere), has an order to take two children (Rosetta and her brother Luciano) from Milan to Sicily to an orphanage. Their mother has been arrested for forcing Rosetta (11 years old) to work as a prostitute. First the relation between Antonio and the children is tough, but it relaxes so they become temporary friends.

The Stolen Children

1992

No Pain poster
6.8

Davide’s life is turned upside down by a tragic event for which he bears an unwitting responsibility. Devastated by guilt, he is driven to a series of seemingly irrational choices that gradually lead him toward profound consequences. Yet, through his deep emotional bond with Elsa, Davide may still find an unexpected path to peace.

No Pain

2026

No Pain poster
6.8

Davide’s life is turned upside down by a tragic event for which he bears an unwitting responsibility. Devastated by guilt, he is driven to a series of seemingly irrational choices that gradually lead him toward profound consequences. Yet, through his deep emotional bond with Elsa, Davide may still find an unexpected path to peace.

No Pain

2026

No Pain poster
6.8

Davide’s life is turned upside down by a tragic event for which he bears an unwitting responsibility. Devastated by guilt, he is driven to a series of seemingly irrational choices that gradually lead him toward profound consequences. Yet, through his deep emotional bond with Elsa, Davide may still find an unexpected path to peace.

No Pain

2026

The Way We Laughed poster
6.8

Studying to become a teacher in 1950s Northern Italy, Sicilian immigrant Pietro is joined by his big brother Giovanni. Pietro shows considerable promise in his field, prompting illiterate Giovanni to take on even the toughest jobs in order to support his sibling's academic pursuits.

The Way We Laughed

1998

The Way We Laughed poster
6.8

Studying to become a teacher in 1950s Northern Italy, Sicilian immigrant Pietro is joined by his big brother Giovanni. Pietro shows considerable promise in his field, prompting illiterate Giovanni to take on even the toughest jobs in order to support his sibling's academic pursuits.

The Way We Laughed

1998

Lamerica poster
7.2

In post-communist Albania, two Italian con artists establish a fictitious shoe factory to embezzle government funds. When their elderly Albanian figurehead disappears, the younger accomplice sets out to find him, embarking on a journey that confronts him with the country's poverty and troubled past.

Lamerica

1994

Lamerica poster
7.2

In post-communist Albania, two Italian con artists establish a fictitious shoe factory to embezzle government funds. When their elderly Albanian figurehead disappears, the younger accomplice sets out to find him, embarking on a journey that confronts him with the country's poverty and troubled past.

Lamerica

1994

Open Doors poster
7.3

Tommaso Scalia is a man who commits three murders: he kills his superior who sacked him, the man who replaced him and his wife. He wants a quick trial and an early execution, but an earnest, principled assistant judge looks for a way to save the murderer from being shot, because he does not belive in capital punishment.

Open Doors

1990

Open Doors poster
7.3

Tommaso Scalia is a man who commits three murders: he kills his superior who sacked him, the man who replaced him and his wife. He wants a quick trial and an early execution, but an earnest, principled assistant judge looks for a way to save the murderer from being shot, because he does not belive in capital punishment.

Open Doors

1990

The Keys to the House poster
6.5

Meeting his handicapped son for the first time, a young father attempts to forge a relationship with the teenager.

The Keys to the House

2004

Tenderness poster
6.3

Back from the hospital where he has been treated after a heart attack, Lorenzo is on his way upstairs to his top-floor apartment in Naples when he meets Michela. The charming young woman, who has just moved to the facing apartment, has forgotten her keys and finds herself locked out. Cynical and grumpy, the retired lawyer who has been living estranged from the rest of the world, should normally leave her to her fate but he mellows under her spontaneous charm. He helps her, becomes friends not only with her but with her husband Fabio and their two children. For once, the self-declared misanthropist seems to be experiencing the long forgotten feeling of empathy.

Tenderness

2017

Tenderness poster
6.3

Back from the hospital where he has been treated after a heart attack, Lorenzo is on his way upstairs to his top-floor apartment in Naples when he meets Michela. The charming young woman, who has just moved to the facing apartment, has forgotten her keys and finds herself locked out. Cynical and grumpy, the retired lawyer who has been living estranged from the rest of the world, should normally leave her to her fate but he mellows under her spontaneous charm. He helps her, becomes friends not only with her but with her husband Fabio and their two children. For once, the self-declared misanthropist seems to be experiencing the long forgotten feeling of empathy.

Tenderness

2017

The First Man poster
6.5

Based on a novel that Albert Camus was working on when he died, we follow Jacques Comery as he travels back to Algeria in 1957, a place full of childhood memories. The country is split between those wanting to remain a part of France, and those demanding independence. Reminiscences of his mother, his stern grandmother and a young Arab boy come flooding back.

The First Man

2011

The First Man poster
6.5

Based on a novel that Albert Camus was working on when he died, we follow Jacques Comery as he travels back to Algeria in 1957, a place full of childhood memories. The country is split between those wanting to remain a part of France, and those demanding independence. Reminiscences of his mother, his stern grandmother and a young Arab boy come flooding back.

The First Man

2011

Via Panisperna Boys poster
6.5

The enthusiasms, fears, joys and disappointments of the (private and professional) life of a well-known group of boys fond of physics and mathematics, who just made history as the Via Panisperna boys.

Via Panisperna Boys

1989

Via Panisperna Boys poster
6.5

The enthusiasms, fears, joys and disappointments of the (private and professional) life of a well-known group of boys fond of physics and mathematics, who just made history as the Via Panisperna boys.

Via Panisperna Boys

1989

Via Panisperna Boys poster
6.5

The enthusiasms, fears, joys and disappointments of the (private and professional) life of a well-known group of boys fond of physics and mathematics, who just made history as the Via Panisperna boys.

Via Panisperna Boys

1989

Battlefield poster
6.4

These are the years of the First World War and Dr. Stefano Zorzi spends his days in the Exemption Clinic in a large city of Northern Italy, where he not only takes care of soldiers who arrive from the massacre of the front, but also he fights simulation and self-harm of those who hope to be dispensed, by sending them before the Military Court. If Stefano, in fact, does his utmost to heal soldiers and send them back to fight, Dr. Giulio Farradio makes them ill, or helps them to self-injure seriously enough to be exonerated. The two doctors, who went to university together and were great friends, they not only (secretly) challenge each other on a professional level, but also on the sentimental one: they are both linked to Anna, a courageous nurse with a strong character. But when the great ‘Spanish’ fever epidemic arrived in 1918, the time for love, politics and science ends up getting confused dangerously...

Battlefield

2024

Battlefield poster
6.4

These are the years of the First World War and Dr. Stefano Zorzi spends his days in the Exemption Clinic in a large city of Northern Italy, where he not only takes care of soldiers who arrive from the massacre of the front, but also he fights simulation and self-harm of those who hope to be dispensed, by sending them before the Military Court. If Stefano, in fact, does his utmost to heal soldiers and send them back to fight, Dr. Giulio Farradio makes them ill, or helps them to self-injure seriously enough to be exonerated. The two doctors, who went to university together and were great friends, they not only (secretly) challenge each other on a professional level, but also on the sentimental one: they are both linked to Anna, a courageous nurse with a strong character. But when the great ‘Spanish’ fever epidemic arrived in 1918, the time for love, politics and science ends up getting confused dangerously...

Battlefield

2024

Blow to the Heart poster
6.5

The son of a university professor discovers his father's secret life and has to decide what to do about it.

Blow to the Heart

1982

Blow to the Heart poster
6.5

The son of a university professor discovers his father's secret life and has to decide what to do about it.

Blow to the Heart

1982

The Cinema According to Bertolucci poster
7.0

Documentary on the filming of Novecento by Bernardo Bertolucci

The Cinema According to Bertolucci

1976

Happy to Be Different poster
6.2

The film takes us on a voyage to a hidden Italy rarely addressed on film: Gay Italy as it was lived in the 20th century, from the turn of the century up to the 80s. The documentary gives voice to those who personally had to bear the weight of being "different", remembering how their lives were shaped by this situation during Fascism and in the aftermath of World War II, in an anthropologically and culturally widely diverse nation. Theirs is a mixed testimony of repression, censorship, dignity, courage, and happiness, making way for the final image of a world - our world - that still has a long way to go towards respect and liberty for everyone.

Happy to Be Different

2014

Happy to Be Different poster
6.2

The film takes us on a voyage to a hidden Italy rarely addressed on film: Gay Italy as it was lived in the 20th century, from the turn of the century up to the 80s. The documentary gives voice to those who personally had to bear the weight of being "different", remembering how their lives were shaped by this situation during Fascism and in the aftermath of World War II, in an anthropologically and culturally widely diverse nation. Theirs is a mixed testimony of repression, censorship, dignity, courage, and happiness, making way for the final image of a world - our world - that still has a long way to go towards respect and liberty for everyone.

Happy to Be Different

2014

Intrepido: A Lonely Hero poster
6.3

A meek middle-aged man takes on every conceivable temporary job in order to feel useful and keep his dignity—until something shakes his inexhaustible optimism.

Intrepido: A Lonely Hero

2013

Intrepido: A Lonely Hero poster
6.3

A meek middle-aged man takes on every conceivable temporary job in order to feel useful and keep his dignity—until something shakes his inexhaustible optimism.

Intrepido: A Lonely Hero

2013

The Sailing Ships poster
5.0

After a kidnapping a boy is kept in the family castel to protect him. But the situation is not easy

The Sailing Ships

1982

The Missing Star poster
6.8

Vincenzo, former head of maintenance of a steel plant that's been outsourced, travels from Italy to China to warn about a defective blast furnace.

The Missing Star

2006

The Missing Star poster
6.8

Vincenzo, former head of maintenance of a steel plant that's been outsourced, travels from Italy to China to warn about a defective blast furnace.

The Missing Star

2006

The Little Archimedes poster
7.3

The action takes place in Florence in the 1930s. Alfred, an Englishman who moved to that city in order to write a book on Giotto, meets a boy who is fond of music and mathematics, with whom he becomes close friends. Alfred goes to Switzerland, but one day he receives an anguished letter from the boy and rushes back to Florence where he learns some terrible news.

The Little Archimedes

1980

The Little Archimedes poster
7.3

The action takes place in Florence in the 1930s. Alfred, an Englishman who moved to that city in order to write a book on Giotto, meets a boy who is fond of music and mathematics, with whom he becomes close friends. Alfred goes to Switzerland, but one day he receives an anguished letter from the boy and rushes back to Florence where he learns some terrible news.

The Little Archimedes

1980

Death at Work poster
9.0

A young man moves to an apartment where an actor has just committed suicide. There is a room with cabinets full of theatrical objects and posters of old films. A child spies on him and in the house opposite a girl haunts him.

Death at Work

1978

Death at Work poster
9.0

A young man moves to an apartment where an actor has just committed suicide. There is a room with cabinets full of theatrical objects and posters of old films. A child spies on him and in the house opposite a girl haunts him.

Death at Work

1978

Class Register. First Book 1900-1960 poster
NR

School registers are made to record the students' absences and grades. But not all students are equal, not all of them are given the same opportunities. In this journey lasting over a century, teachers, children, parents from every part of Italy reconstruct the history of compulsory schooling, and their personal experiences, great expectations and deeply-felt disappointments.

Class Register. First Book 1900-1960

2015

Pastime poster
5.5

A retired teacher is sitting at a table outside a bar; it’s a beautiful sunny day. The waiter brings him breakfast. Soon after a young man arrives and the teacher invites him to sit, he was waiting for him. He is dark skinned. He comes from Mali. Well dressed, serene, ready for the “game” that the teacher is playing. It’s a puzzle game where one wins when completing a crossword. But there is a variable that makes this game impossible: guessing the solutions before the question is made. Nevertheless, the young man finishes the game. Or almost…

Pastime

2019