Massimiliano Sturiale in conversation with Domenico Palesse
Friday 22 March, 6 pm
Massimiliano Sturiale, David di Donatello set designer for Freaks Out, tells his story in a talk with ANSA journalist Domenico Palesse. A meeting to get to know and find out more about one of the most important – and least known – professions for the making and the success of a movie. We will discover the art of scenography through the story right from the set. Sturiale, fresh from the important work ‘The Lions of Sicily’ on Disney +, will reveal stories and background about some of the most important productions on the Italian film scene, passing through a tour of the legendary Studio 5 of Cinecittà, the beloved ‘home’ of Federico Fellini. He will tell about cities that do not exist and about the creativity that fills his work and the work of his collaborators, in one of the last bastions of cinematographic craftsmanship, in the heart of Pigneto, a working-class district so dear to Pier Paolo Pasolini.
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Massimiliano Sturiale was born in Catania in 1967 and immediately moved to Rome with his family. He spent his adolescence in the Cinecittà district, in front of the Cinecittà studios, at the time considered as the “dream factory”. His curiosity for those fantastic places as well as his passion for drawing led him to graduate in Scenography in 1992 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. After graduating, he began his artistic career in Theatre and Cinema working with several directors: Alessandro D’Alatri, Ivano Di Matteo, Bobby Moresco, Paolo Genovese, Ferzan Özpetek, Sergio Castellitto, Gabriele Muccino, Giuseppe Tornatore and Gabriele Mainetti. Meeting with Gabriele Mainetti was essential for his artistic training; for him he curated the sets of the films “Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot” and “Freaks Out”, for which he received nominations for the “David di Donatello” and the “Nastro d’argento”. In 2022 he received the David di Donatello award for the film Freaks Out and the Nastro d’argento for the films Freaks Out and Il materiale motivo.
Domenico Palesse was born in Sulmona in 1978, and then he moved to Rome for his academic studies. A professional journalist, he is editor of ANSA’s Italian Chronicles. Since 2000 in the press agency, he has also worked for the website and the multimedia editorial staff. Accredited to the Santa Sede Press Office, he is responsible for the Defence, Civil Protection and Games sectors. He was a war correspondent during the conflict in Ukraine, with his reports from the border with Poland at the time of the humanitarian crisis. In the past he worked in the local news as editor of the Gazzetta di Reggio, as well as in the local TV of his city, Sulmona. He is the creator of the social media page “Lost in Location”, in which he shows the places in the cities used as film sets. Lost in location has tens of thousands of followers.