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IMDbPro

Gabriele Salvatores

  • Director
  • Writer
  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Gabriele Salvatores at an event for I'm Not Scared (2003)
Salvatores attended school in the Lombard metropolis. He started doing theater there. After graduating from high school, Salvatores enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Milan in 1968. He then studied at the Accademia d''arte drammatica, a drama school at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano. He completed his training with a diploma. It was the time of the student protests, which were particularly massive in Milan in the context of the left-wing radical movement "Lotta Continua". Salvatores took an active part and was involved in the newly emerging proletarian street theater. In 1972 Salvatores was among the co-founders of the Teatro dell''Elfo in Milan. In the following 10 years he played for this theater, for which he staged 21 performances. The musical that Salvatore staged from William Shakespeare's "Sogno di una notte di mezza estate" was a particular success.

He made his first feature film under the same title in 1983, which received an award in Venice. Salvatores became known to a larger Italian cinema audience primarily through the comedies "Marrakech Express" (1989) and "Turné" (1990), which dealt with his own political and social experiences. The director made a name for himself in international film with "Mediterraneo" (1991). The tragicomic film received an Oscar for best foreign contribution and, against the backdrop of the Italian military occupation of a Greek island during the Second World War, depicts the rapprochement between the occupiers and the locals. Salvatore's next film "Puerto Escondido" (1992) is set in Italy and Latin America. With "Sud" (1993), the director finally presented a sensitive study of the Italian south, his true home.

The following films "Nirvana" (1997), "Denti" (2000) and "Amnesia" (2001) were mainly known in Italian cinema. The Italian television broadcast of Salvatore's film "Io non ho paura" (2003) in April 2005 was a complete success: 35% of viewers saw the film. In May 2005, Salvatore's "Quo vadis, baby?" before, the film adaptation of a novel by Grazia Verasani, in which a female protagonist goes in search of her sister.
BornJuly 30, 1950
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJuly 30, 1950
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 28 wins & 33 nominations total

    Photos2

    View Poster
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    Known for

    Christopher Lambert in Nirvana (1997)
    Nirvana
    6.1
    • Director
    • 1997
    Giuseppe Cristiano in I'm Not Scared (2003)
    I'm Not Scared
    7.4
    • Director
    • 2003
    The Invisible Boy (2014)
    The Invisible Boy
    6.2
    • Director
    • 2014
    As God Commands (2008)
    As God Commands
    6.5
    • Director
    • 2008

    Credits

    IMDbPro

    Director



    • La variante di Luneburg
      • Director
      • Pre-production



    • Naples to New York (2024)
      Naples to New York
      6.9
      • Director
      • 2024
    • Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Toni Servillo in Casanova's Return (2023)
      Casanova's Return
      6.1
      • Director
      • 2023
    • Comedians (2021)
      Comedians
      5.5
      • Director
      • 2021
    • Fuori era primavera: Viaggio nell'Italia del lockdown (2020)
      Fuori era primavera: Viaggio nell'Italia del lockdown
      6.6
      • Director
      • 2020
    • All my crazy love (2019)
      All my crazy love
      6.4
      • Director
      • 2019
    • Galatéa Bellugi and Ludovico Girardello in The Invisible Boy: Second Generation (2018)
      The Invisible Boy: Second Generation
      5.1
      • Director
      • 2018
    • The Promise (2015)
      The Promise
      5.7
      Short
      • Director
      • 2015
    • The Invisible Boy (2014)
      The Invisible Boy
      6.2
      • Director
      • 2014
    • Italy in a Day (2014)
      Italy in a Day
      7.2
      • Director
      • 2014
    • Deadly Code (2013)
      Deadly Code
      6.3
      • Director
      • 2013
    • Un solo sguardo
      6.0
      Short
      • Director
      • 2011
    • 1960 (2010)
      1960
      6.9
      • Director
      • 2010
    • Happy Family (2010)
      Happy Family
      6.6
      • Director
      • 2010
    • Stella (2009)
      Stella
      6.2
      Short
      • Director
      • 2009
    • As God Commands (2008)
      As God Commands
      6.5
      • Director
      • 2008

    Writer



    • La variante di Luneburg
      • Writer
      • Pre-production



    • Naples to New York (2024)
      Naples to New York
      6.9
      • screenplay
      • 2024
    • Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Toni Servillo in Casanova's Return (2023)
      Casanova's Return
      6.1
      • screenplay
      • 2023
    • Comedians (2021)
      Comedians
      5.5
      • adaptation
      • 2021
    • Deadly Code (2013)
      Deadly Code
      6.3
      • screenplay
      • 2013
    • 1960 (2010)
      1960
      6.9
      • Writer
      • 2010
    • Happy Family (2010)
      Happy Family
      6.6
      • screenplay
      • 2010
    • As God Commands (2008)
      As God Commands
      6.5
      • screenplay
      • 2008
    • Franco Origlia in Petites Historias das Crianças (2008)
      Petites Historias das Crianças
      6.3
      • writer
      • 2008
    • Quo Vadis, Baby? (2005)
      Quo Vadis, Baby?
      6.2
      • screenplay
      • 2005
    • Amnèsia (2002)
      Amnèsia
      6.1
      • story and screenplay
      • 2002
    • Denti (2000)
      Denti
      6.4
      • screenplay
      • 2000
    • Christopher Lambert in Nirvana (1997)
      Nirvana
      6.1
      • written by
      • 1997
    • Sud (1993)
      Sud
      6.4
      • writer
      • 1993
    • Puerto Escondido (1992)
      Puerto Escondido
      6.6
      • screenplay collaboration
      • 1992
    • Turné (1990)
      Turné
      7.0
      • screenplay
      • 1990

    Actor



    • Don Chisciotte e...
      • 2006
    • Il cielo è sempre più blu (1996)
      Il cielo è sempre più blu
      5.7
      • 1996
    • Kamikazen: Ultima notte a Milano (1988)
      Kamikazen: Ultima notte a Milano
      6.4
      • Man at Station (uncredited)
      • 1988

    Personal details

    • Height
      • 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
    • Born
      • July 30, 1950
      • Naples, Campania, Italy
    • Spouse
      • Rita RabassiniJuly 30, 2025 - present
    • Relatives
      • Donatella Salvatores(Sibling)
    • Other works
      Directed Tv commercial for Italian Superenalotto (2000)
    • Publicity listings
      • 3 Print Biographies

    Did you know

    • Trivia
      Making his debut as theater director in 1972, he founded the Teatro dell'Elfo in Milan, where he directed several plays until 1989.
    • Quotes
      Fear is not just linked to darkness. When you are nine years old, a cornfield reaches your chest and underneath anything could be lurking: animals, dry grass that cuts into your legs, holes... I believe that brilliant sunshine can also conceal terrible things.
    • Trademark
      The constant theme of his movies is the escape from the problems of the modern world. His characters often smoke joints or smuggle drugs. Most of his movies include a soccer match. Almost always casts Diego Abatantuono; frequently casts Claudio Bisio, Ugo Conti, Gigio Alberti.

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