Archibugi, Francesca

(I960-)

   Actress, screenwriter, director. One of the most prominent of the young Italian directors who emerged in the late 1980s, Archibugi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia before also attending Ermanno Olmi's

   film school, Ipotesi Cinema, where she made a number of short films, among them Il sogno truffato (The Betrayed Dream, 1984). After appearing in a small supporting role in Giuseppe Bertolucci's Segreti segreti (Secrets Secrets, 1985) and honing her screenwriting skills on Bruno Cortini's L'estate sta finendo (Summer Is Ending, 1987), she wrote and directed her first feature, Mignon e partita (Mignon Has Come to Stay, 1988). An affectionate and moving story of male adolescence and first love, the film proved to be something of a revelation, winning six David di Donatello awards, including Best New Director, and two Nastri d'argento. Archibugi's next feature, Verso sera (Towards Evening, 1990), highlighting the generation gap that had opened up in Italy with the social upheavals of the 1970s, also won the David for Best Film, as did her third feature, II grande cocomero (The Great Pumpkin, 1993), a film that centered on the treatment of a young girl with epilepsy and was inspired by the alternative psychiatric practices of Marco Lombardo Radice. Con gli occhi chiusi (With Closed Eyes, 1994), an elegant adaptation of a novel by 19th-century writer Federico Tozzi, was less warmly received, but L'albero delle pere (Shooting the Moon, 1998), which tackled the complex problem of drug addiction with great sensitivity, was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Festival and awarded the prize of the Office Catholique International du Cinema. After exploring the shattered lives of people caught up in the 1997 Umbria earth-quake in Domani (Tomorrow, 2000), Archibugi provided an interesting variation on Alessandro Manzoni's 19th-century novel in the television miniseries Renzo e Lucia (2004). She returned to the big screen with Lezioni di volo (Flying Lessons, 2006), another contemporary generational film, this time set in India.

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira