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Barbara Cupisti

Barbara Cupisti
Born(1962-01-24)24 January 1962
Viareggio, Italy
Occupations
  • Actress
  • writer
  • director
Years active1982–present

Barbara Cupisti (24 January 1962) is an Italian director and actress. As a director, she focuses mainly on human rights documentaries.

Career as actress

Cupisti started her career as a dancer with the Luis Falcó company. In 1981, she enrolled at the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico, which she left two years later to make her film debut in Tinto Brass' The Key.[1] In 1989, she was the lead actress in Carlo Verdone's Il bambino e il poliziotto.[1] She also worked on television, notably in the series Châteauvallon, Edera and Caro maestro.[1]

Career as director

Since 2002 she started to work as director for Rai Cinema. Her first documentary film Mothers premiered at the 64th Venice International Film Festival and won the David di Donatello for Best Documentary of the year.[2]

Her second documentary, Forbidden Childhood, was screened in the festival circuit and has received the Audience Award for the Best Documentary Film at the Bahrein International Human Rights Film Festival (May 2009) and the Amnesty International Cinema and Human Rights Award at the Pesaro International Film Festival for the New Cinema (June 2009), and at the Bobbio Film Festival of Marco Bellocchio. UNICEF Italia gave to this movie the High Patronage.

Io sono - Storie di schiavitù [it] (I am - Stories of slavery), her third film, is about human trafficking in Italy. It was presented at the 2011 Venice Film Festival with the patronage of Amnesty International Italy and was a finalist at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.

Fratelli e Sorelle-storie di carcere is a two-episode documentary about the dramatic situation in Italian prisons. The film has been awarded with Premio Ilaria Alpi 2012, for the best documentary of the year and got the nomination for David di Donatello 2013.[3]

Interferenze Rom 2013 was shot in the Republic of Macedonia, Italy, and France and talks about the Gipsy community in Europe.

Cupisti made a series of three documentaries about refugees from all over the word and the reasons for their exile, titled Exiles: The wars, Exiles: Tibet, and Exiles: The Environment.[4]

In 2016 Exiles: The wars wins the Special Nastro d'argento of the National Syndicate of Italian Film Journalists.

In 2018, Womanity is released. The film tells the story of thirty-six hours of four women in India, Egypt and the United States. It attended the Rome Film Festival and won at the Italian Film Festival in Madrid.

In 2020, My America was released and shown at the Turin Film Festival and broadcast on RAI TV

In 2022 and 2023, she filmed "Hotel Sarajevo" and "Wartime notes", the first reflecting on the 30th anniversary since the siege of Sarajevo during the war in Bosnia, and the latter on the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the role played by Ukrainian women.

Filmography

Actress

Year Title Role Notes
1982 The New York Ripper Heather Feature Film
1983 The Key Lisa Rolfe Feature Film
1985 Châteauvallon Alexandra TV series, 26 episodes
International Airport L'hostess di terra TV series, 3 episodes
1987 Stage Fright Alicia Feature Film
Eleven Days, Eleven Nights Alicia Feature Film
Opera Signora Albertini Feature Film
1988 Piazza Navona TV series, 1 Episode: O Samba
1989 The Hell's Gate Erna Feature Film
La salle de bain Doctor's Wife Feature Film
The Church Lisa Feature Film
Il bambino e il poliziotto Lucia Feature Film
Dark Bar Elisabeth Feature Film
1990 Flight from Paradise Assessino Feature Film
Formula I TV series
Il volo di Teo Feature Film
Eyewitness Elisa TV movie
1992 Edera Dalma TV series, 21 episodes
Flesh and the Devil Maria Cristina TV movie
1994 Cemetery Man Magda Feature Film
Only You Anna Feature Film
1995 L'anno prossimo... vado a letto alle dieci Betty Feature Film
1997 The Grey Zone Feature Film
Commercial Break Mary Cantucci Feature Film
1999 Gialloparma Cristina Feature Film
Not Registered Feature Film
2000 Denti Segretaria Dott Calandra Feature Film
2001–02 Distretto di Polizia Irene Martini TV series, 2 Episode: La vendetta, Doppio inganno
2002 Total Kheops Paola Feature Film
Sotto gli occhi di tutti Barbara Feature Film

Director

Year Title Notes
2002 The Water Mask Feature Film, Segment: Cornice
2007 Mothers Documentary
2008 Forbidden Childhood Documentary
2011 Io Sono Documentary
2012 Storie di carcere Documentary
2013 Interferenze Rom Documentary
2014 Exiles. The Wars Documentary
2015 Exiles. Tibet Documentary
2016 Exiles. The environment Documentary
2018 Womanity Documentary
2020 My America Documentary
2022 Hotel Sarajevo Documentary
2023 Wartime Notes Documentary

References

  1. ^ a b c Lancia, Enrico; Poppi, Roberto (2003). "Cupisti, Barbara". Le attrici: dal 1930 ai giorni nostri. Gremese Editore. ISBN 978-88-8440-214-1.
  2. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (19 April 2008). "'Girl by the Lake' tops David awards". Variety. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  3. ^ Santoni, Simona (10 May 2013). "David di Donatello 2013, tutte le candidature: Vicari e Tornatore in testa". Panorama (in Italian). Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Exiles | Clipper Media". www.clippermedia.it. Retrieved 4 November 2018.