After her graduation, Francini underwent a three-year theatre course in Florence, at the Teatro della Limonaia, directed by Barbara Nativi, under whose direction she played a role in
Peanuts, written by
Fausto Paravidino. For two consecutive years she acted in Faccia da comico under the artistic direction of
Serena Dandini at the
Ambra Jovinelli theatre in
Rome. She got into television through
Marco Giusti, who offered her a role in
Blablabla and
Stracult. She then had a part in
Ragazze di San Frediano, directed by
Vittorio Sindoni and in 2007 she was Marcia Meniconi, one of the protagonists of
Gente di mare 2. In 2008, she played a major role in the sitcom
Radio Sex, directed by
Alessandro Baracco. Between 2007 and 2008 she took part in four movies:
Leonardo Pieraccioni wanted her for the role of Giustina in
A Beautiful Wife,
Francesco Patierno chose her for ''
Il mattino ha l'oro in bocca'',
Spike Lee, after casting her personally, had her play Fabiola, one of the victims of the
Nazi massacre of Sant'Anna di Stazzema, in
Miracle at St. Anna and finally in 2008
Stefano Tummolini offered her the role of Stella in
Un altro pianeta (Eng.:
One Day in a Life), a film shown at the 2008
Venice Film Festival, where it was awarded the
Queer Lion, and at the
Sundance Film Festival in 2009. In 2009, she acted in the television
miniseries Le segretarie del sesto piano, directed by
Angelo Longoni, and in the movie
Feisbum!, directed by
Emanuele Sana. In 2010, she appeared in the television series
Tutti pazzi per amore 2, directed by
Riccardo Milani, in which she played the character of Bea, and in the
film noir La donna velata, directed by
Edoardo Margheriti. In 2010 and 2011, she played Martha in
Maschi contro femmine (
Males vs Females) and
Femmine contro maschi (
Females vs Males), both directed by
Fausto Brizzi. In 2011, she acted in ''
C'è chi dice no (Eng. title: Some Say No
), directed by Giambattista Avellino, Cacao, directed by Luca Rea, and Amici miei come tutto ebbe inizio'', directed by
Neri Parenti. In 2011, Francini was awarded the
Biraghi Prize as "
Shooting Star of the year" at
the 68th Venice Film Festival, given by the
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. In 2011, she was part of the main cast in the television programme
Colorado broadcast by Italia 2. That same year she also acted in
La peggior settimana della mia vita (English title:
The Worst Week of My Life), directed by
Alessandro Genovesi and in
Un natale per due, a SKY Cinema production, which had the highest share ever recorded on the Italian SKY network, directed by
Giambattista Avellino where apart from having a major role she also performed
Carmen by
Bizet. Finally that year, she returned to Rai 1 to once again embody the character of Bea in
Tutti pazzi per amore 3, directed by
Laura Muscardin. In 2012, she acted in the television mini-series
Nero Wolfe directed by
Riccardo Donna and broadcast by Rai 1. In 2011, she was chosen as a spokesperson for
Dolce&Gabbana in their men's SS2012 world campaign. ==Filmography==