Alice Rohrwacher
Alice Rohrwacher (Italian: , German: ; born 29 December 1981) is an Italian film director, editor and screenwriter.
She made her directorial debut with Heavenly Body (2011). She has since directed notable films such as The Wonders (2014), winner of the Grand Prix, Happy as Lazzaro (2018), which received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay, and La chimera (2023). Her short Le pupille (2022) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
Alice Rohrwacher | |
|---|---|
 Alice Rohrwacher at Lisbon Film Festival (2019) | |
| Born | 29 December 1981 |
| Alma mater | University of Turin |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, editor |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Relatives | Alba Rohrwacher (sister) |
Early life
Rohrwacher was born in Fiesole, in Tuscany, to an Italian mother and German father. She spent her youth in the village of Castel Giorgio, Umbria, where her mother was born and her father Reinhard worked as a beekeeper. She is the younger sister of the Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher. She studied Classics at the University of Turin, then specialized in screenwriting at the Holden School in Turin.
Career
Her first experience in filmmaking was in 2006, when directing a part of the Italian documentary Checosamanca.
In 2011, she directed her first feature film, Heavenly Body, which premiered at the Directors' Fortnight during the 2011 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim.
Her second feature film, The Wonders, won the Grand Prix at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Also in 2014, Rohrwacher was appointed the President of the International Jury for the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.
She announced filming of her third film Lazzaro Felice in 2017 with the film starring Sergi López and Rohrwacher's sister Alba Rohrwacher. The film premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival where it won the award for Best Screenplay. It was released by Netflix in December of that year.
Rohrwacher was invited to serve on the jury for the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. She was nominated alongside Alfonso Cuaron for their short Le pupille (2022) for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film losing to An Irish Goodbye. Her latest film La chimera (2023) starring Josh O'Connor and Isabella Rossellini premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival where it was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or.
Style
Bong Joon-ho described her work as "a mix of magic realism and neorealism, innocent characters butting up against corrupt behemoths".
Favorite films
In 2022, Rohrwacher listed her 10 favorite films in a Sight & Sound poll.
- Strike (1925)
- Miracle in Milan (1951)
- Vagabond (1985)
- La Terra vista dalla Luna (1967)
- Nights of Cabiria (1957)
- Getting to Know the Big, Wide World (1980)
- The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
- Tale of Tales (1979)
- The Blue Planet (1981)
- Le Havre (2011)
Filmography
As filmmaker
| Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Checosamanca | Yes | No | Documentary film |
| 2011 | Heavenly Body | Yes | Yes | Feature film |
| 2014 | The Wonders | Yes | Yes | Feature film |
| 2014 | 9x10 novanta | Yes | Yes | Documentary film (segment: "Una canzone") |
| 2015 | De Djess | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2018 | Happy as Lazzaro | Yes | Yes | Feature film |
| 2021 | Futura | Yes | No | Documentary film |
| 2022 | Le pupille | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2023 | La chimera | Yes | Yes | Feature film |
Other work
| Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter | Cinematographer | Editor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Un piccolo spettacolo | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary film |
| 2008 | Boygo | No | No | No | Yes | Short film |
| Tradurre | No | No | No | Yes | Documentary film | |
| 2009 | In tempo, ma rubato | No | No | No | Yes | Documentary film |
| Residuo fisso | No | No | Yes | Yes | Documentary short | |
| 2020 | My Brilliant Friend | Yes | No | No | No | HBO series; 2 episodes |
| Ad una mela | Yes | No | No | No | Trailer for the Vienna International Film Festival |
Accolades
| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Göteborg Film Festival | International Debut Award | Heavenly Body | Won | |
| Nastro d'Argento | Best New Director | Won | |||
| David di Donatello | Best New Director | Nominated | |||
| Cannes Film Festival | Caméra d'Or | Nominated | |||
| 2014 | Cannes Film Festival | Grand Prix | The Wonders | Won | |
| Munich Film Festival | CineVision Award | Won | |||
| Abu Dhabi Film Festival | Black Pearl Award | Won | |||
| 2018 | Cannes Film Festival | Best Screenplay Award | Happy as Lazzaro | Won | |
| 2022 | Academy Award | Best Live Action Short Film | Le pupille | Nominated | |
| 2023 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | La chimera | Nominated |
References
Further reading
- Nicholas Albanese, 'Bodies in space: Emplacement in Alice Rohrwacher's Corpo celeste', in The Italianist, 37:2 (2017), pp. 228-242.
- Silvia Angeli, 'From the margins: Alice Rohrwacher's liminal adolescents', in Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies, 8:3 (2019), pp. 339-356.
- Laura Di Bianco, 'Ecocinema Ars et Praxis: Alice Rohrwacher's Lazzaro felice', in The Italianist, 40:2 (2020), pp. 151-164.
- Roberto Interdonato, 'A different spirituality: On Lazzaro's symbolic potency in Alice Rohrwacher's Happy as Lazzaro', in Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies, 11:1 (2023), pp. 145-161.
External links
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