Paolo Sorrentino
Biography
Paolo Sorrentino (Italian: [ˈpaːolo sorrenˈtiːno]; born 31 May 1970; Naples) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and writer. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Italian cinema working today. He is known for visually striking and complex dramas and has often been compared to Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni. He has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award two Cannes Film Festival prizes, four Venice Film Festival Awards and four European Film Awards. In Italy he was honoured with eight David di Donatello and six Nastro d'Argento.
Sorrentino made his directorial film debut with the Italian comedy-drama One Man Up (2001) for which he received the Nastro d'Argento for Best New Director followed by The Consequences of Love (2004), The Family Friend (2006), and This Must Be the Place (2011). The biographical drama Il Divo (2009) was awarded the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize. He received critical acclaim with the art drama The Great Beauty (2013) which won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, and the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He followed with Youth (2015), Loro (2018), and The Hand of God (2021) the latter of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. He is also known for his work on television creating and directing the HBO drama series The Young Pope (2016), and The New Pope (2019). He worked with songwriters Antonello Venditti, Paloma Faith and Mark Kozelek and written three books published in Italian.
He works with authors and producers including Francesca Cima and Nicola Giuliano, Toni Servillo and Luca Bigazzi. Actors in his films have included Sabrina Ferilli, Michael Caine, Fanny Ardant, Harvey Keitel, Isabella Ferrari, Elena Sofia Ricci, Sean Penn, Riccardo Scamarcio, Jude Law, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Nanni Moretti, Filippo Scotti, Carlo Verdone, Antonio Albanese, Frank Langella and Jane Fonda.
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Full filmography
- Mussolini: Son of the Century (2025) Executive Producer
- La Grazia (2025) Director
- La Grazia (2025) Producer
- La Grazia (2025) Writer
- L'infinito (2025) Screenplay
- Parthenope (2024) Producer
- Parthenope (2024) Director
- Parthenope (2024) Writer
- The Flood (2024) Associate Producer
- I Told You So (2024) Producer
- Faut Voir - L'Hebdo cinéma (2023) as Self - Guest
- GialappaShow (2023)
- Room 999 (2023) as Self
- Call My Agent: Italy (2023)
- Massimo Troisi: Somebody Down There Likes Me (2023) as Sé stesso
- Roma, santa e dannata (2023) Creative Producer
- MCAINE: An Anagram of Cinema (2023) as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
- Lost Love (2023) Producer
- Amanda (2022) Thanks
- Il teatro di Mattia Torre : Backstage (2022)
- Il teatro di Mattia Torre : Backstage (2022) Director
- Il teatro di Mattia Torre : 456 (2022) Director
- Sei pezzi facili (2022) Director
- Sei pezzi facili (2022) Creator
- Il teatro di Mattia Torre : Perfetta (2022) Director
- Il teatro di Mattia Torre : Qui e ora (2022) Director
- Il teatro di Mattia Torre : Migliore (2022) Director
- Il teatro di Mattia Torre : Gola (2022) Director
- Il teatro di Mattia Torre : In mezzo al mare (2022) Director
- The Hand of God (2021) Producer
- The Hand of God (2021) Screenplay
- The Hand of God (2021) Director
- We Are Cinema (2021) as Self (archive footage)
- The Hand of God: Through the Eyes of Sorrentino (2021) as Self
- The New Pope (2020) Executive Producer
- The New Pope (2020) Writer
- The New Pope (2020) Director
- The New Pope (2020) Creator
- Homemade (2020) Writer
- Homemade (2020) Director
- My Brilliant Friend (2018) Executive Producer
- Little Adventure in Rome (2018) Writer
- Little Adventure in Rome (2018) Director
- Loro (2018) Director
- Loro (2018) Writer
- Loro 1 (2018) Writer
- Loro 1 (2018) Director
- Loro 2 (2018) Writer
- Loro 2 (2018) Director
- Killer in Red (2017) Director
- Killer in Red (2017) Screenplay
- The Young Pope (2016) Director
- The Young Pope (2016) Writer
- The Young Pope (2016) Creator
- Cinque mondi (2016) as Self
- Youth (2015) Director
- Youth (2015) Writer
- Cercando La grande bellezza (2015) as Self
- Rio, I Love You (2014) Director
- Rio, I Love You (2014) Writer
- Le voci di dentro (2014) Stage Director
- Le voci di dentro (2014) Director
- Tutte le storie di Piera (2014)
- The Dream (2014) Writer
- The Dream (2014) Director
- Three Touches (2014) as se stesso
- Sabbia (2014) Director
- The Great Beauty (2013) as Comparsa
- The Great Beauty (2013) Screenplay
- The Great Beauty (2013) Director
- This Must Be the Place (2011) Director
- This Must Be the Place (2011) Writer
- In the Mirror (2011) Director
- In the Mirror (2011) Writer
- Napoli 24 (2010) Writer
- Napoli 24 (2010) Director
- What Do You Know About Me (2009) as Self
- A Matter of Heart (2009) as se stesso
- L'Aquila 2009: Five Directors in the Rubble (2009) Director
- The Slow Game (2009) Director
- The Slow Game (2009) Screenplay
- The Other Half (2009) Presenter
- Il Divo (2008) Director
- Il Divo (2008) Screenplay
- Boris (2007) as himself
- The Family Friend (2006) Director
- The Family Friend (2006) Screenplay
- The Caiman (2006) as il marito di Aidra in "Cataratte"
- Fiat Croma (2005) Director
- Nature: Consuelo (2005) Supervising Producer
- The Consequences of Love (2004) Screenplay
- The Consequences of Love (2004) Director
- Saturday, Sunday & Monday (2004) Stage Director
- Saturday, Sunday & Monday (2004) Director
- Giovani talenti italiani (2004) Director
- I nostri trent'anni - Generazioni a confronto (2004) as Self
- The Spring of 2002 - Italy Protests, Italy Stops (2002) Director
- One Man Up (2001) Screenplay
- One Man Up (2001) Director
- The Long Night (2001) Writer
- The Long Night (2001) Director
- The Dust of Naples (1998) Screenplay
- Love Has No Bounds (1998) Writer
- Love Has No Bounds (1998) Director
- Man Who Check the Meter (1995) Assistant Unit Manager
- Drogheria (1995) First Assistant Director
- Sventramento (1995) Director of Photography
- Paradise (1994) Director
- Paradise (1994) Writer
- Ladri di futuro (1992) First Assistant Director
- Foa Producer
- Untitled Carlo Ancelotti Documentary Director