Luca Guadagnino facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Luca Guadagnino
Guadagnino in 2024
Born	(1971-08-10) 10 August 1971 (age 53) Palermo, Italy
Alma mater	Sapienza University of Rome
Occupation	Film director film producer screenwriter
Years active	1997–present
Partner(s)	Ferdinando Cito Filomarino (2009–2020)

Luca Guadagnino (born 10 August 1971) is a famous Italian film director and producer. He is known for making movies that tell deep stories and look visually amazing. Luca has won many awards, including a Silver Lion, and has been nominated for an Academy Award and three BAFTA Awards.

He was born in Palermo, Italy. Luca spent some of his childhood in Ethiopia. His family moved back to Italy in 1977 because of a civil war in Ethiopia. Luca started his career by making short films and documentaries. His first full-length movie was The Protagonists (1999). This film was the first of many times he worked with the actress Tilda Swinton. His next movie, Melissa P. (2005), was popular in Italy.

Luca Guadagnino became even more well-known with his Desire trilogy. This series of films includes I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), and Call Me by Your Name (2017). Call Me by Your Name made him famous around the world.

His film Suspiria (2018) was a remake of a 1977 horror movie. This was Luca's first time directing a horror film. Later, he worked on We Are Who We Are (2020), a TV series for HBO. He also directed the romantic horror film Bones and All (2022), the romantic sports film Challengers (2024), and the romantic drama Queer (2024).

Luca has also directed several documentaries. These include Bertolucci on Bertolucci (2013) and Salvatore: The Shoemaker of Dreams (2020). Besides making movies, he has worked in fashion. He directed commercials for brands like Fendi and Salvatore Ferragamo. In 2012, Luca started his own production company called Frenesy Film Company. He has also produced other films like Belluscone: A Sicilian Story (2014) and The Truffle Hunters (2020).

Early Life and Learning

Luca Guadagnino was born on 10 August 1971 in Palermo, Italy. His father was Italian, and his mother was from Algeria. He spent his early years in Ethiopia, where his father taught history. In 1977, his family moved back to Palermo, Italy, to escape the civil war in Ethiopia.

Luca became interested in filmmaking when he was about nine years old. He started making amateur films after his mother gave him a Super 8 camera. As a teenager, he became very passionate about movies. He would record films shown on TV and watch them. Some of the movies that influenced him early on were Psycho (1960) and Suspiria (1977). He also really liked the films of Ingmar Bergman.

Luca studied literature at the University of Palermo. He then moved to the Sapienza University of Rome. There, he finished his degree in literature and cinema history. He wrote his final paper about the American filmmaker Jonathan Demme. Luca said that his time at Sapienza, meeting people like Bernardo Bertolucci, was like his "film school."

His Film Career

First Films (1999–2008)

Luca Guadagnino directed his first full-length movie, The Protagonists (1999). This film was shown at the Venice Film Festival. It was also the first time he worked with actresses Tilda Swinton and Fabrizia Sacchi, and editor Walter Fasano. In 2002, he directed Mundo Civilizado, a musical documentary. His 2004 documentary, Cuoco Contadino, was about an Italian chef.

The Desire Trilogy and Other Works (2009–2017)

In 2009, Luca directed, wrote, and produced the popular film I Am Love. This was the first movie in what he calls his "Desire trilogy." Actress Tilda Swinton helped produce and develop this film over seven years. The movie was a big hit with critics and audiences. In 2010, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film.

Guadagnino and André Aciman at a screening of Call Me by Your Name in 2017.

Luca continued his documentary work with Inconscio Italiano (2011) and Bertolucci on Bertolucci (2013). The documentary Bertolucci on Bertolucci was made using old film clips and won many awards.

As a producer, he helped make the short film Diarchia (2010). This film won awards at the Locarno Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. In 2015, Luca produced Antonia, a movie about the Italian poet Antonia Pozzi.

His next film was A Bigger Splash (2015). This movie was shown at the 72nd Venice Film Festival.

Luca's film Call Me by Your Name was based on a book by André Aciman. It starred Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, and Michael Stuhlbarg. The movie was filmed in Italy in 2016. It was first shown at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and became very popular.

Becoming Internationally Known (2017–Present)

In 2015, Luca Guadagnino announced he would direct a remake of the horror film Suspiria. His version of Suspiria was set in Berlin around 1977. Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson, who had worked with him before, starred in the film. Suspiria was shown at the 75th Venice Film Festival.

In 2019, Luca directed a short film called The Staggering Girl. The next year, he was an executive producer for the documentary The Truffle Hunters. He also directed Salvatore Ferragamo: The Shoemaker of Dreams, a documentary about Salvatore Ferragamo.

He also wrote and directed We Are Who We Are (2020), an 8-episode TV series for HBO. In 2021, Luca produced Beckett, a film directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino.

Guadagnino and the cast of Queer at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.

In 2021, it was announced that Luca would direct Bones and All. This film was based on a novel about teenage cannibals and starred Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell. Bones and All premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in 2022. There, Luca won the Silver Lion for best direction. In 2023, he co-produced two Italian films, Enea and Holiday.

In 2022, he directed the sports drama film Challengers, starring Zendaya. It was filmed in Boston and released in 2024. The movie was praised by critics and earned over $90 million worldwide. That same year, he produced Diciannove and April. Luca's second film of 2024 was Queer, based on a novel by William S. Burroughs, starring Daniel Craig.

Luca will next direct a thriller called After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts. He will also produce Atropia.

Other Activities

Luca Guadagnino has been a judge at several film festivals, including the Torino Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival.

Outside of movies, he started working with the Italian fashion house Fendi in 2005. In 2012, he created Frenesy, a company that works on communications for luxury brands. They produce fashion films and advertisements.

He also led the jury for Louis Vuitton's Journey Awards in 2012, a competition for young filmmakers. In 2011, he directed an opera called Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi in Verona, Italy.

Luca Guadagnino will be the head of the jury for the upcoming Marrakech International Film Festival.

Frequent Collaborators

Luca Guadagnino often works with the same actors and crew members on his films.

Actors who often appear in his movies include Tilda Swinton, Fabrizia Sacchi, Alba Rohrwacher, Timothée Chalamet, Dakota Johnson, and Michael Stuhlbarg. Tilda Swinton has been in four of his films. Timothée Chalamet starred in Call Me By Your Name and Bones and All.

Yorick Le Saux and Sayombhu Mukdeeprom are his most frequent cinematographers (the people who film the movie). Walter Fasano has been Luca's main editor since 1997, working on almost all of his projects. Luca also regularly works with producers Francesco Melzi d'Eril and Marco Morabito, and screenwriter David Kajganich.

Filmography

Feature Film

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
1999	The Protagonists	Yes	No	Yes
2005	Melissa P.	Yes	No	Yes
2009	I Am Love	Yes	Yes	Yes
2015	A Bigger Splash	Yes	Yes	No
2017	Call Me by Your Name	Yes	Yes	No
2018	Suspiria	Yes	Yes	No
2022	Bones and All	Yes	Yes	No
2024	Challengers	Yes	Yes	No
	Queer	Yes	Yes	No
2025	After the Hunt	Yes	Yes	No

Producer only

• The Landlords (2012)
• Belluscone: A Sicilian Story (2014)
• Antonia (2015)
• The Truffle Hunters (2020)
• Beckett (2021)
• Enea (2023)
• Holiday (2023)
• Diciannove (2024)
• April (2024)
• Atropia (2025)

Documentary Film

Short Film

Television

Music Video

Advertising

Awards and Nominations

Luca Guadagnino has won many awards for his films. Here are some of his notable wins and nominations:

• In 1999, he won a Special Mention at the Venice Film Festival for The Protagonists.
• In 2008, he won Best Italian Documentary Film at the Turin Film Festival for The Love Factory No. 3.
• His film I Am Love (2009) was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and a BAFTA Award in 2011.
• In 2015, he won the Soundtrack Stars Award and Best Innovative Budget Award at the Venice Film Festival for A Bigger Splash.
• For Call Me by Your Name (2017), he won Best Feature at the Gotham Independent Film Awards. He also won Best Film and Best Director at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards. The film was nominated for an Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Film in 2018.
• In 2022, he won the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the Venice Film Festival for Bones and All.

Images for kids

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  Guadagnino and André Aciman at a screening of Call Me by Your Name in 2017.

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  Guadagnino and the cast of Queer at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.