Born in
Ischia, after graduating at the
University of Naples Federico II Di Costanzo moved to
Paris, where he followed
Ateliers Varan courses and worked for French television. After directing several documentaries, he made his
narrative film debut in 2012 with
The Interval, which premiered in the
Horizons section of the
69th Venice International Film Festival and earned him the
David di Donatello for Best New Director, the
Ciak D'Oro for Best Film and Best First Work and the Foreign Press Grand Prix at the 2013
Globi d'oro. After directing a segment of the anthology film
Bridges of Sarajevo, his following film
The Intruder was screened in the
Directors' Fortnight section at the
2017 Cannes Film Festival. His 2021 film
The Inner Cage was screened out of competition at the
70th Venice International Film Festival and Di Costanzo's screenplay was awarded as Best Original Screenplay at the 2022
67th David di Donatello Awards. In 2025, his film
Elisa was entered into the competition at the
82nd Venice International Film Festival. ==Selected filmography==