Nico Cirasola | |
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Born | 27 May 1951
Gravina in Puglia, Italy |
Died | 3 April 2023
Rome, Italy | (aged 71)
Nationality | Italian |
Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, producer and actor |
Nico Cirasola (27 May 1951 – 3 April 2023) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor.
Born in Gravina in Puglia, a film buff since childhood, in 1982 Cirasola wrote the book Da Angelo Musco a Massimo Troisi - Il cinema comico meridionale ("From Angelo Musco to Massimo Troisi - The Southern Comedy Cinema"). [1] [2] After directing the never completed Super 8 film Tuta blu, he made his official feature film debut in 1989 with the road movie Odore di pioggia, starring Renzo Arbore. [1]
Cirasola's films were all self-produced independent productions, always set in Apulia, and often characterized by satirical and political commitments. [1] His works include Bell’Epoker (2003), a satire about the 1991 Teatro Petruzzelli fire, Focaccia Blues (2009), a documentary about a successful focaccia shop in Altamura which forced the local McDonald's shop to close due to lack of customers, and Rudy Valentino - Divo dei divi (2017), a film starring Claudia Cardinale and Alessandro Haber about a little-known 1923 trip of Rudolph Valentino in his hometown. [1] [3] Cirasola was also active as a character actor. [1] [2]
Cirasola died on 3 April 2023, at the age of 71. [1] [2] [3]