He began his career as a director and screenwriter in 1996 with the episodic documentary Terra di mezzo, which focused on immigration in Rome. Bienvenido Espirito Santo, which examined Pentecostalism in New York, and Oreste Pipolo, fotografo di matrimoni, followed. Il caso di forza maggiore, Ospiti, and the comedy Estate Romana are his first fiction works. With L'imbalsamatore, for which he won the David di Donatello screenplay prize, and Primo amore, on which he worked with Vicenza writer Vitaliano Trevisan, he had his first notable achievements in 2002. Gomorra, a 2008 film adaptation of Roberto Saviano's investigative book, won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, accolades for best film, direction, performance, photography, and male performance at the European Film Awards, and a Golden Globe nomination. He wrote and shot Reality in 2012, followed by Tale of Tales, and Dogman, which was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film in 2018. An adaptation of Pinocchio was released in 2019 and received Oscar nominations for best costumes and best makeup. This year in competition at the 80th Venice International Film Festival with Io Capitano he won the Silver Lion for best director and obtained the Italian nomination for best foreign film at the 2024 Oscars.

photo Harald Krichel