Gianni Amelio was born on January 20, 1945, in San Pietro di Magisano, province of Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy. His father left for Argentina shortly after his birth, and Amelio spent his youth and adolescence with his mother and grandmother, an experience that would later influence his work.
Amelio developed an interest in cinema during his university studies of philosophy in Messina, and he began writing film reviews for a local magazine. In 1965, he moved to Rome, where he worked as an operator and assistant director for prominent filmmakers such as Liliana Cavani and Vittorio De Seta. He also worked in television, directing documentaries and advertisements.
Amelio's first significant work was the TV film "Sun City," which he directed in 1973 for RAI TV and was inspired by Tommaso Campanella's work. This was followed by "The Cinema According to Bertolucci" (1976),a documentary about the making of Bernardo Bertolucci's film "1900," and the thriller "Special Effects" (1978).
In 1979, Amelio directed the critically acclaimed "The Little Archimedes," and in 1982, he made his debut in feature films with "Blow to the Heart," a drama about Italian terrorism that premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The film received a prize at the Locarno Film Festival and was nominated for the Golden Lion.
Amelio's subsequent films continued to garner critical acclaim and numerous awards. "Via Panisperna Boys" (1987),about the lives of Italian physicists, won the best screenplay award at the Bari Film Festival, while "Open Doors" (1989),featuring Gian Maria Volonté, confirmed Amelio's status as one of Italy's top film directors and earned a nomination for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards.
The film received four Felix Awards, two Silver Ribbons, four David di Donatello Awards, and three Golden Globes Awards. Amelio's next film, "The Stolen Children" (1992),won the Special Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and earned two Silver Ribbons and five David di Donatello Awards.
In 1994, Amelio released "Lamerica," a drama about Albanian immigration in Italy, which repeated the success of his previous films and earned two Silver Ribbons and three David di Donatello Awards. Four years later, "The Way We Laughed" (1998) won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and Amelio received a Silver Ribbon as best director for "The Keys to the House" (2004),inspired by a novel by Giuseppe Pontiggia.
Amelio has been a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival and has directed the Torino Film Festival in Turin from 2009 to 2012.
