Giuseppe Tornatore
Giuseppe Tornatore (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the directors who brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema. In a career spanning over 30 years he is best known for directing and writing drama films such as Everybody's Fine, The Legend of 1900, Malèna, Baarìa and The Best Offer.
Giuseppe Tornatore
Olivier Strecker · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1956.
- Nationality
- Italy.
- Occupation
- film director, screenwriter, film producer, film editor and director.
- Known for
- Cinema Paradiso and Baarìa.
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Giuseppe Tornatore. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q53045 · wikipedia · Giuseppe Tornatore
In this article
Life and career
Life and career
His most noted film is Cinema Paradiso, for which Tornatore won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He has also directed several advertising campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana. Tornatore is also known for his long-standing association with composer Ennio Morricone, who composed music for thirteen Tornatore feature films since 1988.
Born in Bagheria, near Palermo, Tornatore developed an interest in acting and the theatre from at least the age of 16 and put on works by Luigi Pirandello and Eduardo De Filippo. He worked initially as a freelance photographer. Then, switching to cinema, he made his debut with Le minoranze etniche in Sicilia (The Ethnic Minorities in Sicily), a collaborative documentary film which won a Salerno Festival prize. He then worked for RAI before releasing his first full-length film,The Professor, in 1985. This evoked a positive response from audiences and critics alike and Tornatore was awarded the Silver Ribbon for best new director. In 1988, a collaboration with producer Franco Cristaldi gave birth to Tornatore's best known screen work: Cinema Paradiso, a film narrating the life of a successful film director who has returned to his native town in Sicily for the funeral of his mentor. This obtained worldwide success and won the 1990 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Subsequently, Tornatore released several other films. In 2007 he won the Silver George for Best Director at the 29th Moscow International Film Festival for The Unknown Woman.
Personal life
Personal life
Tornatore describes himself as "one who does not believe and who regrets this". His brother, Francesco Tornatore, is a producer.
Written and directed
Written and directed
1986: The Professor (Il camorrista) 1988: Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso) 1990: Everybody's Fine (Stanno tutti bene) 1991: Especially on Sunday (segment "Il cane blu") 1994: A Pure Formality (Una pura formalità) 1995: The Star Maker (L'uomo delle stelle) 1995: Lo schermo a tre punte (documentary) 1996: Ritratti d'autore: seconda serie (documentary) 1998: The Legend of 1900 (La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano) 2000: Malèna 2006: The Unknown Woman (La sconosciuta) 2009: Baarìa 2013: The Best Offer (La migliore offerta) 2016: The Correspondence (La corrispondenza) 2021: Ennio – The Maestro (documentary) 2025: Brunello: The Gracious Visionary (documentary) TBA: Cinema Paradiso – Miniseries
Screenplay
Screenplay
Cento giorni a Palermo ("One Hundred Days in Palermo"), directed by Giuseppe Ferrara (1984) – Tornatore is credited under the name Peppuccio Tornatore The Best Offer (2013).
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Giuseppe Tornatore”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q53045: Giuseppe Tornatore
General reference · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Giuseppe Tornatore, revision 1332551315 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Katz, Ephraim, "Italy," The Film Encyclopedia (New York: HarperResource, 2001), pp. 682–685.
- 2.Valentina Zannoni. Funeral alla Dolce & Gabbana. Swide Magazine. 30 October 2011.
- 3.Moliterno, Gino. Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema. Rowman & Littlefield. 334. 8 December 2020. 978-1-5381-1948-8.
- 4.Moscati, Italo. Ennio Morricone. LIT EDIZIONI. 16. 1 December 2020. 978-88-3290-314-0.
- 5.Cassell Illustrated. 501 Movie Directors. 571. 2007. 9781844035731.
- 6.The 62nd Academy Awards (1990) Nominees and Winners. oscars.org. 5 October 2014.
- 7.29th Moscow International Film Festival (2007). MIFF.
- 8.Tornatore: "Sogno l'Ultima Cena su grande schermo". www.mymovies.it.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 3
- Giuseppe Tornatore. Uno sguardo dal set a cura di Ninni Panzera, Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo 2007
- L'isola di Tornatore a cura di Ninni Panzera, Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo 2010
- Le Madonie, cinema ad alte quote di Sebastiano Gesù e Elena Russo, con introduzione di Francesco Novara e presentazione di Pasquale Scimeca, Giuseppe Maimone Editore, Catania 1995 (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso and L'Uomo delle Stelle)
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
38,713 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Giuseppe OrlandiniPerson
- Giuseppe Patroni GriffiPerson
- Giuseppe PiccioniPerson
- Giuseppe RinaldiPerson
- Giuseppe VariPerson
- Giuseppe ZenoPerson
- Giuseppina GrassiniPerson
- Giustino DuranoPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Giuseppe Tornatore?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.