Sorrentino, Paolo

(1970-)

   Director and screenwriter. Widely hailed as one of the most promising young directors of the new millennium, Sorrentino first began to make his mark as a film writer, winning the 1997 Solinas screenwriting prize for his original script, Dragoncelli di fuoco (Little Fire Dragons). After collaborating on the screenplay of Antonio Capuano's Polvere di Napoli (Dust of Naples, 1998), he made the short L'amore non ha confini (Love Has No Limits, 1998), before writing and directing his first full feature, L'uomo inpiu (One Man Up, 2001). The intriguing story of two men with the same name whose destinies cross by chance, the film was screened in competition at the Venice Festival and won wide acclaim, with Sorrentino subsequently being awarded the Nastro d'argento for Best New Director. Three years later his similarly impressive second feature, Le consequenze dell'amore (The Consequences of Love, 2004), was nominated for the Palme d'or at Cannes and at home received five David di Donatello, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, and three Nastri d'argento. Following a highly praised adaptation of Eduardo De Filippo's play Sabato, domenica e lunedi (Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 2005), made for RAI television, and appearing in a supporting role in Nanni Moretti's Il caimano (The Caiman, 2006), Sorrentino wrote and directed L'amico di famiglia (The Family Friend, 2006), the unsettling story of a repulsive but oddly fascinating neighborhood loan shark, which was again nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes. His fourth feature, Il divo, an ironic portrait of Italian Christian Democrat leader and seven-time prime minister Giulio Andreotti, received the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2008.

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira