Ferzan Özpetek was born in
Istanbul in 1959. In 1976, he decided to move to Italy to study Cinema History at
Sapienza University of Rome. He completed his education attending art history and costume design classes at the Navona Academy. He also attended director classes at the
Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art. After receiving stage experience with
Julian Beck's
Living Theatre, he moved to the cinema landscape, by working as a director assistant to
Massimo Troisi,
Maurizio Ponzi,
Ricky Tognazzi,
Sergio Citti and
Francesco Nuti. His first work was as Troisi's assistant director for
Scusate il ritardo, followed by Ponzi's
Sono contento, where he had a small role performing as a
madonnaro.
Facing Windows (
La finestra di fronte) was released in 2003. It starred
Giovanna Mezzogiorno,
Raoul Bova,
Filippo Nigro and
Massimo Girotti, in what turned out to be his last performance on film. The film won multiple awards including: five
David di Donatello, four
Ciak d’Oro and three
Globo d'oro awards. The film's success in Italy and the rest of Europe, led it to be distributed by
Sony Pictures Classics in
North America. Once again pairing up with producers Gianni Romoli and Tilde Corsi, in 2005, Özpetek directed
Sacred Heart, which received 12 nominations at the
David di Donatello awards, where
Barbora Bobuľová won the Best Actress award. The film also won the award for production design. His next film,
Saturn in Opposition, was released in 2007. It featured a very rich cast:
Pierfrancesco Favino,
Luca Argentero,
Isabella Ferrari and
Ambra Angiolini, and also
Margherita Buy and
Stefano Accorsi with whom he worked earlier, in
Le fate ignoranti. The movie won four
Ciak d’oro, five
Globo d'oro and four
Nastro d'Argento awards. Angiolini, in her acting debut, won the
David di Donatello award for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role. That same year, Özpetek served on the jury at the 64th
Venice International Film Festival. He also directed commercial ads, including a spot for the AIRL (the Italian association for cancer research) that featured
Isabella Ferrari. In 2008, Özpetek started a new partnership with
Domenico Procacci's company, Fandango.
Un Giorno Perfetto, a novel by
Melania Gaia Mazzucco, starred
Isabella Ferrari and
Valerio Mastandrea, and marked the first time Özpetek worked with a story not his own. Presented at the 65th
Venice International Film Festival, it grossed 3 million euros at the box-office. In 2008, the
Museum of Modern Art in
New York City, dedicated a retrospective on him, screening all of his movies. He has been one of the few Italian directors to be given this honour. In April 2009, he directed a short movie called
Nonostante tutto è Pasqua (Despite Everything it's Easter), a segment of the project
L’Aquila 2009 - Cinque registi tra le macerie, in which multiple directors took on subjects regarding the
2009 L'Aquila earthquake. Özpetek's short was dedicated to
Alessandra Cora, an aspiring singer who died in her house's rubble. His next film
Loose Cannons was released in 2010. It was co-written with
Ivan Cotroneo and stars
Riccardo Scamarcio,
Alessandro Preziosi,
Nicole Grimaudo and
Ennio Fantastichini. It is a comedy concerning the family issues of a household in
Lecce. This is one of the few movies Özpetek has set outside
Rome, a city very close to his heart. On 22 May 2010 the city of
Lecce declared Özpetek honorary citizen. The movie was presented out of competition at the 70th edition of the
Berlinale as well as at the
Tribeca Film Festival 2010, getting a special recognition of the jury. In 2011, he was asked to direct
Giuseppe Verdi's "
La traviata" at
San Carlo Opera House, and performed in December 2012, starring
Carmen Giannattasio and
Saimir Pirgu. It filmed for TV by
Unitel Classica, and Pal DVD release in Italian company
CG Entertainment (2015). ==Filmography==