Ferzan Ozpetek

Ferzan Ozpetek (b. Istanbul, 1959) moved to Rome in 1976 for Cinema Studies at Sapienza University. His directorial debut Il Bagno Turco-Hamam (1997) was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. Subsequent films—Le Fate Ignoranti (2001), La Finestra di Fronte (2003), and Mine Vaganti (2010)—performed strongly at the box office and earned David di Donatello, Nastri d’Argento, Ciak, and Golden Globe awards.

In 2011 Ozpetek conducted his first opera, Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, an outstanding success repeated the following year at the San Carlo Theater in Naples with La Traviata (revived last July) and in 2019 with Madama Butterfly. In 2017 the film Napoli Velata was released and two years later La Dea Fortuna earned David and Silver Ribbon awards for Jasmine Trinca as best leading actress. In May 2019 Ozpetek took part in the Venice Biennale with the video installation Venetika and in January 2020 he directed the theatrical adaptation of Mine Vaganti.

In 2013 Ozpetek released his first novel, Rosso Istanbul (Mondadori), which he adapted for film, and a second novel, Sei la mia vita (Mondadori), in 2015. His third novel, Come un breath, published in May 2020, became a runaway Italian bestseller. At the Venice Film Festival, he received the SIAE 2020 Award. In October he was honored with the FICE Award for La Dea Fortuna, which also earned Golden Ciak awards for Best Film, Best Actors, and Best Song.

Supported by the SIAE, the filmmaker established the annual “Day of White Coats” on February 20, which now officially commemorates the immense commitment of health personnel in the fight against Covid-19.

After the show Mine Vaganti resumed in late 2021, Ozpetek also brought to the stage the hugely successful Ferzaneide, a monologue he wrote and directed.

At the 2021 Giffoni Festival, Ozpetek was awarded the Truffaut Prize, which honors leading Italian and international filmmakers. Soon after, the Taormina and Venice Film Festivals celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the film Le fate ignoranti, now an eight-episode TV series, directed by Ozpetek and Gianluca Mazzella, available on Disney +. In April 2021 his video installation Venetika, created for the 2019 Venice Biennale, was exhibited at Rome’s MAXXI Museum.