Gianluigi Toccafondo
Directing
Biography
Gianluigi Toccafondo was born in 1965 in San Marino, graduated from the Urbino School of Fine Arts, and now lives in Bologna. He is a versatile artist—painter, animator, illustrator, writer, and filmmaker—passionate about graphic art, cinema, and their intersection. In his work, he sets painting in motion through a technique that established him in the 1990s as one of the leading directors of animated cinema: he uses pre-existing images (magazine photos, film stills), which he distorts through photocopying, then reworks with acrylic, pencil, or other media, before re-filming them one by one. Active since 1989, he is the author of many short animated films presented and awarded at film festivals in Annecy, Clermont-Ferrand, and Venice. He has created commercials and jingles for clients such as Sambuca Molinari, Rai, and Fandango; he was assistant director on Gomorra by Matteo Garrone, and created the opening credits for Robin Hood by Ridley Scott. He has also worked as an illustrator for several publishing houses (Einaudi, Feltrinelli, Mondadori, Fandango, Logos, Corraini) and magazines, including "Linea d’ombra", "Lo Straniero", and "Abitare".
Known For
An inside look at Italy's modern-day crime families, the Camorra in Naples and Caserta. Based on a book by Roberto Saviano. Power, money and blood: these are the "values" that the residents of the Province of Naples and Caserta have to face every day. They hardly ever have a choice and are forced to obey the rules of the Camorra. Only a lucky few can even think of leading a normal life.
Gomorrah
Rolando Colla made his directorial debut with this Swiss-French-Italian period drama about a Breton woman who disguises herself as a man to join a ship's crew during the 18th century. Rebellious 24-year-old Anne Bruneau is abandoned at the altar by her fiancé Yann. Unaware that Yann was drunk and fell down a well, Anne reacts to his absence by cutting her hair, dressing like a man, and signing on with a ship captained by a dwarf. When Yann learns what happened, he begins running south to Marseilles to rejoin her. Aboard the ship, Anne's disguise is discovered by the captain and the ship's doctor. With an Arab, she jumps ship, hiding with hookers in Marseilles while still maintaining her disguise.
Le monde à l'envers
At the heart of the sea bed, between rocks and corals, primitive algae undulate, lulled by the muffled and roaring sound of the currents. Up there, on the surface of the water, something extraordinary has just appeared: a voice. So soft and seductive that it is unlike anything we have ever heard before.
The Voice of the Sirens
Toccafondo made some 1200 drawings of the silent movie star Buster Keaton and subjected them to his process of transformation. His hero collapses, climbs and parades on an ever changing canvas that is set to exhilarating violin music.
The Tail
Where Disney's version marginalized the darker elements of the novel, Gianluigi Toccafondo's adaptation brings them to the center. It's a film he cursed over and which took him three years to complete.
Pinocchio
A few vibrations of a tango dance announce the performance of an uneasy love story.
The Dance Floor
Two petty and foolish thugs extort a poor farmer and his wife in the countryside near Rimini. But the farmers, tired of always being the victims, decide to take revenge and devise a diabolical plan that will land the bandits in prison for murder.
Thugs with No Legend
Dedicated to Pasolini's death and his commemoration in the years following his passing.
Being Dead or Being Alive Is the Same Thing
Carmen comes from a difficult past: taken away from her mother during adolescence, she grew up in a foster home. Massimo is an only child, raised in a wealthy and oppressive family. Their only daughter, Giada, 5 years old, was entrusted to the father. Carmen has the right to see her every other Saturday, but Carmen doesn't accept it: she doesn't want her child to grow up without a mother, like she did.
The Invention of Snow
Animated mugshots of criminals.
The Criminals
No description available.
Biennale di Venezia 56° - Sigla
A meaningful journey into the Italian cultural heritage throughout musical quotes from Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, lithographies by Giovan Battista Piranesi and lines by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Dreamland will bring the audience to some of the most beautiful Italian UNESCO sites: Villa d’Este and Villa Adriana in Tivoli, the historic centre of Rome with the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, Piazza Navona, Castel Sant’Angelo and much more. Passing through the depths of the Tiber, it will arrive also in the most peripheral areas of the city to find out still so much beauty and so many stories about the contemporaneity in a visual and musical journey so evocative as to reveal the Italian cultural identity.
Dreamland
Painted animation featuring scenes from a bordello.
Bordello
No description available.
Il figlio di Amleto
The music film "Federation Tunisienne de Football" (4 min 22 sec) it's the first way chosen by C'mon Tigre to share their Mediterranean tale with all the whole world, along all the longitudes and latitudes. It based on their first single track, introducing the full album's release in October: a story about an eccentric football team, their dances and magical shoes set on a sandy playground surrounded by animals.
Federation Tunisienne De Football
The story he has been told by his grandfather was about people's dream to go out of their small town to Russia. For them, the greatest pleasure on the earth was taking a prostitute.
Little Russia
The life of a pig revisited in terms of legend.
The Trail of the Pig
Underground Lovers is a story about love and obsession, with a dramatic end. Inspired by science fiction cinema and Japanese erotic culture, it has the structure of a real feature film condensed in just over 4 minutes. A man and a woman go through a night of excess until they lose control, among food, drugs, sex and the neon lights of Tokyo
Underground Lovers
A bride leaves her father’s home to reach her love.