{"id":3444,"date":"2026-03-31T11:05:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/?page_id=3444"},"modified":"2026-04-02T13:59:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:59:40","slug":"guests-of-the-festival","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/en\/guests-of-the-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Guests of the festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>
[vc_custom_heading text=”The guests” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”%7B%22default%22%3A%7B%22color%22%3A%22%23831f81%22%2C%22font-size%22%3A%222.5rem%22%2C%22line-height%22%3A%222.5rem%22%2C%22margin-left%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22margin-top%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22margin-bottom%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22margin-right%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-left%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-top%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-bottom%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-right%22%3A%220px%22%7D%7D”][vc_custom_heading text=”of the festival” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”%7B%22default%22%3A%7B%22color%22%3A%22%23ef7b00%22%2C%22font-size%22%3A%222.5rem%22%2C%22line-height%22%3A%222.5rem%22%2C%22margin-left%22%3A%2210px%22%2C%22margin-top%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22margin-bottom%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-left%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-top%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-bottom%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-right%22%3A%220px%22%7D%7D”]<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>
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Donatella <\/strong><\/span>Finocchiaro<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>
\n

Donatella Finocchiaro was born in Catania on November 16th 1970. After high school she attended the Faculty of Law of the University of Catania. She began attending singing, dance, and acting courses, discovering her passion for theater that brought her to Rome, where she continued to attend other courses until her debut in 1996 at the Teatro dell’Orologio: a chapter that lasted only 6 months. He returned to Catania to finish his exams and graduate in Law in October of the same year.<\/span> While preparing her thesis, she took part in auditions for the acting school of the Teatro Stabile di Catania, where she was admitted shortly afterwards. Dividing herself between practicing law and elocution lessons, she began working in the theater and moving further and further away from the courtroom. In 2001 she showed up at a casting call for Roberta Torre’s new film, was chosen and became the protagonist of \u201cAngela\u201d. The film, after participating in the Cannes Film Festival, was screened at numerous international festivals, where Donatella won various awards for best actress.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Her career as actress has continued with directors such as Roberto And\u00f2, Giuseppe Tornatore, Marco Bellocchio, Mimmo Calopresti, Edoardo Winspeare and also Roberta Torre, Emanuele Crialese and Pupi Avati. <\/span>In the theatre she has been directed by Luca Ronconi, Gigi Dall’Aglio, Ninni Bruschetta, Giampiero Cicci\u00f2, Andrea De Rosa. She\u2019ve made her directorial debut in 2011 with the documentary \u201cAndata e Ritorno\u201d, presented at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in the Controcampo Italiano section. In the theatre, again in 2011, she played the role of Maria in a Rai production called \u201cQuesti fantasmi!\u201d \u00a0by Eduardo De Filippo. <\/span>She made her television debut in 2013 on a Rai1 program \u201cRiusciranno i nostri eroi\u201d, alongside Max Giusti, Laura Chiatti and Cristiano Malgioglio. In 2015 she was on stage with \u201cLe supplici di Eschilo<\/span>\u201d at the Greek Theatre of Syracuse, directed by Moni and Mario Incudine, in 2018 with \u201cTaddarite\u201d by Luana Rondinelli and in 2021 with \u201cIl filo di mezzogiorno\u201d by Mario Martone. In 2023, she starred in the series \u201cI Leone di Sicilia\u201d , based on the<\/span> homonymous novel by Stefania Auci and directed by Paolo Genovese, in the role of Giuseppina. In 2024 we will see her at the cinema in various projects, including the films: \u201cSvenduti\u201d directed by Luca Barbareschi, a comedy that tells the story of Italy sold off to the French; \u201cE poi si vede\u201d directed by Giovanni Calvaruso; \u201cL’amore che ho \u2013 La storia di Rosa Balistreri\u201d based on the homonymous novel by Luca Torregrossa, which narrates the dramas and joys experienced by one of the legends of Sicilian folk song, where we will see her play the protagonist.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

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Federico <\/strong><\/span>Fiorio
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>

Born in Verona, the soprano Federico Fiorio has graduated from the Conservatories of Trento and Parma. He recently performed Sesto (Julius Caesar) at the Salzburg Festival; I Groteschi at the Monnaie of Brussels; Bellezza (The Triumph of Time and Disillusionment) in Losanna; Aquilio (Adriano in Syria) in Essen; Pulgar (La Bella Susona) in Seville and at the \u00d3pera de Tenerife; Aeneas (Dido Abandoned) in Madrid; Nero (The Coronation of Poppea) and Sesto in touring productions among important Italian theatres. This season he sings Dar\u00edo (Benamor) in Vienna, Cleopatra (Marc’Antonio and Cleopatra) in Berlin, Learco (Talestri, Queen of the Amazons) in Halle and Bellezza in Aldeburgh. In 2024 he co-founded the Karalis Antiqua Ensemble.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

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Leo <\/strong><\/span>Gassman
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>

Leo Gassmann was born in Rome on November 22nd 1998, into a family of artists and an important surname.\u00a0 At the age of 9 he entered the Accademia di Santa Cecilia and studied classical guitar and solfeggio for 5 years. In 2020 he won the Newcomers category of the Sanremo Festival with the song \u201cVai bene cos\u00ec\u201d, confirming his skills as a singer-songwriter and great maturity and intensity of interpretation despite his young age. The music video for \u201cVai Bene Cos\u00ec\u201d, which to date boasts over 8.2 million views on YouTube, earned him the 2020 Rome Videoclip Sanremo Giovani Award received during the Rome Film Fest. He then graduated in Art and Communication from the John Cabot University of Rome.<\/p>\n

After his debut album \u201cStrike\u201d, the artist competed at the 73rd\u00b0 edition of the Sanremo Festival with the single \u201cTerzo Cuore\u201d, written and produced with Marco Paganelli, Giorgio Pesenti and Riccardo Zanotti. Then it was the turn of the album \u201cLa strada per Agartha\u201d, which also contained the single \u201cVolo Rovescio\u201d, also written by Riccardo Zanotti, which was then added the single \u201cCapiscimi\u201d, accompanied by a nice video clip in which Sofia Viscardi also appears. In 2023, the song \u201cDammi un bacio, Ja\u201d, which went viral on social media platforms, was included in the soundtrack of the second season of \u201cUn Professore\u201d, the famous RAI fiction. Between last year and this year the singles \u201cTake That\u201d, \u201cE poi sei arriva tu\u201d, the summer song \u201cFree Drink\u201d and \u201cYAMAMAI\u201d were released. Today, it has accumulated over 95 million total streams.<\/p>\n

Leo Gassman also continues his successful acting career: in 2024 he played Franco Califano in the RAI film \u201cCalifano\u201d about the life of the popular Roman singer-songwriter. Thanks to his amazing performance, Leo won the Nastro d’Argento as \u201crevelation of the year\u201d. Last year, the film \u201cUna terapia di gruppo\u201d was released in theaters, in which he stars alongside Claudio Bisio, Margherita Buy, and Claudio Santamaria. This year he is at the cinema with the film \u201cFuori la verit\u00e0\u201d by Davide Minnella with Claudio Amendola, Claudia Gerini and Claudia Pandolfi. This year he also starred in the RAI miniseries \u201cThe Invisible \u2013 The Capture of Matteo Messina Denaro\u201d. After her third participation in the Sanremo Festival with \u201cNaturale\u201d, her third studio album, \u201cVita Vera Paradiso\u201d, is coming out this year, followed by her first club tour in the spring.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

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Simonetta <\/strong><\/span>Musitano<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>

The Project of Simonetta Musitano was born in Reggio Calabria in 1993 from a man and a woman. But soon the duo broke up, and she realized that all her money would have been donated to the Psychologists’ Association. Humble, spontaneous, true, an artist of the people, she seems like an eternal twenty-years-old, her talent is spontaneity (again?), being true, humble (but she’s already said it), is the symbol of those who fight to get there, she made it, and Italians know it. She is born as actress and will die, she hopes soon. Her mission is to destroy the heterocispatriarchal binary system with her monologues not from the outside… but not from the inside either, from the side, a little further away. In case you want to let an elderly person sit, what do you do? Making people laugh but also think about it, (no, actually, her point is let her mother change her mind that she didn’t really need that eco-operator competition, she can make it on her own, even opening up, like, a crowdfunding campaign for crazy, hormonal trans people, you’ll see, mom, you’ll see!). She is not only a comedy actress, she is also a voice actress, author and has appeared on Comedy Central and Propaganda Live. She is Pamela Prati from East Rome: Simonetta Musitano!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

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Gianluigi <\/strong><\/span>Ricuperati<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>

He has collaborated and continues to collaborate with La Repubblica, D di Repubblica, La Stampa, Abitare, Domus, GQ, Studio, Il Sole 24 Ore Sunday School, Il Sole 24 Ore, ITALIC. In 2011 his debut novel \u201cIl mio impero \u00e8 in aria\u201d was published (ed. Minimum Fax). In 2009 he published \u201cLa tua vita in 30 comode rate” (ed. Laterza). In 2007 \u201cViet Now – Memory is Empty\u201d (ed. Boringhieri Bollati). In 2006 \u201cFucked Up\u201d (ed. Bur RCS) and, with Marco Belpoliti, publishes the first monograph dedicated to the artist Saul Steinberg. In 1999 he translated \u201cThe Wild Party\u201d (ed. Einaudi Freestyle).<\/p>\n

In 2012 he curated Giorno Per Giorno, a project promoted by the Foundation for Modern and Contemporary Art CRT as part of Contemporary Torino+Piemonte and coordinated by Artissima: ten days of art, science, and contemporary cultures. In 2010 he worked with the Castello di Rivoli – Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2009, with Stefano Boeri and Fabrizio Gallanti, he co-curated Urbania, an international urban planning festival in Bologna. In 2007 and 2008, together with Stefano Boeri, he directed Festarch, an international architecture festival in Cagliari. From January 2010 to November 2011, he created and directed Canale 150 \u2013 the Italians of yesterday as told by the Italians of today, an initiative to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification supported by the Italia 150 Committee and Telecom Italia. Gianluigi Ricuperati was also Creative Director of Domus Academy of the American company Laureate. The heart of all, according to Ricuperati, is multi-disciplinarity, because dialogue between disciplines is the only concrete opportunity .<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

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Nicola <\/strong><\/span>Savino<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>

Nicola Savino, Lucca, November 14th, 1967, is a well-known Italian radio and television host and author, who grew up in San Donato Milanese. A key figure on Radio Deejay, where he joined in 1997 as an author and director, later becoming Linus’s sidekick on Deejay Chiama Italia. He has hosted TV programs such as \u201cQuelli che il calcio\u201d, \u201cL’Isola dei Famosi\u201d, \u201cLe Iene\u201d, \u201cIl Dopofestival\u201d, \u201cTali e quali\u201d and numerous other programs in Mediaset, Rai and tv8.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

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Sensualit\u00e0 <\/strong><\/span>a <\/span><\/strong>Corte<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>

Marcello <\/strong><\/span>Cesena<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>

Marcello Cesena is an Italian comedian, director and writer. He directed \u201cMari del Sud\u201d with Diego Abatantuono and Victoria Abril, \u201cPeggio di Cos\u00ec si Muore\u201d with BRONCOVIZ and Rossy De Palma. And \u201cIl Cosmo sul Com\u00f2\u201d with Aldo, Giovanni & Giacomo. He is also the director of many well-known commercials in Italy, as well as the creator of the cult series Sensualit\u00e0 a Corte – \u00a0which he is director and main character. He is the author of the novel \u201cUn Luogo Sicuro\u201d published by Sperling & Kupfer.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Simona <\/strong><\/span>Garbarino<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>

Simona Garbarino was born in Genoa. She is an actress with experience in theater and television. She graduated in pedagogy with a focus on philosophy, she specialized in theatre pedagogy, theatre therapy, and imaginary pedagogy. For thirty-four years she has worked as a trainer in social theatre and as a pedagogue in intellectual disability. After several experiences in the teaching field, she taught as contract professor at the University of Genoa (“Special Pedagogy”). Graduated and specialized at the Free University of Autobiography in Anghiari, she works in autobiographical, imaginative, self-analytical writing and biographical collection. As poet, she has published three poetry collections and numerous publications on national and international literary blogs.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Fabrizio <\/strong><\/span>Lopresti<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>

Fabrizio Lopresti was born in Genoa he is an actor, director and journalist. After studying at the Experimental Theatre Research Centre in Pontedera and earning a Master’s degree in Directing with Paolo Virz\u00ec and Francesco Bruni, he began working with the Teatro della Tosse, the Teatro Stabile in Genoa, before joining the Youth company of the Teatro Eliseo in Rome. He writes and directs documentaries. He works in television as the author of programs such as \u201cBell’Italia in viaggio\u201d and \u201cDalla parte degli animali\u201d and as director of \u201cMelaverde\u201d, \u201cTi racconto un libro\u201d, \u201cA cuccia di cuori\u201d, \u201cI viaggi del cuore\u201d. Since the beginning of Sensualit\u00e0 a Corte in 2005, he has played the Batman characters Renato, Darth Vener Stefano, Diabolik Armando, Robin Hood Titti and the multi-graduate and mustachioed heroine, Daiana Wonder Woman.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

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Romas <\/strong><\/span>Zabarauskas<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>

Romas Zabarauskas established himself as a provocative Baltic storyteller with a drama-driven, politically engaging, and visually lush body of work. He is a Tallinn Black Nights regular from his debut We Will Riot <\/i>(2013) to his latest films The Writer<\/i> (2023) and The Activist<\/i> (2025), which, together with The Lawyer <\/i>(2020), form a thematic trilogy. His debut short Porno Melodrama<\/i> (2011) premiered in Berlinale Panorama and told one of the first queer stories in Lithuanian cinema. Zabarauskas holds a BA in Film (2012) from Saint-Denis University (Paris), including an exchange year at Hunter College (New York), and an MA in Communication (2016) from KSU (Vilnius). He is currently pursuing a PhD in Film at the National Film School of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_custom_heading text=\"The guests\" font_container=\"tag:h1|text_align:left\" use_theme_fonts=\"yes\" css=\"%7B%22default%22%3A%7B%22color%22%3A%22%23831f81%22%2C%22font-size%22%3A%222.5rem%22%2C%22line-height%22%3A%222.5rem%22%2C%22margin-left%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22margin-top%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22margin-bottom%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22margin-right%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-left%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-top%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-bottom%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-right%22%3A%220px%22%7D%7D\"][vc_custom_heading text=\"of the festival\" font_container=\"tag:h1|text_align:left\" use_theme_fonts=\"yes\" css=\"%7B%22default%22%3A%7B%22color%22%3A%22%23ef7b00%22%2C%22font-size%22%3A%222.5rem%22%2C%22line-height%22%3A%222.5rem%22%2C%22margin-left%22%3A%2210px%22%2C%22margin-top%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22margin-bottom%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-left%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-top%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-bottom%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-right%22%3A%220px%22%7D%7D\"]Donatella Finocchiaro Donatella Finocchiaro was born in Catania on November 16th 1970. After high school she attended the Faculty of Law of the University of Catania. She began attending singing, dance, and acting courses, discovering her passion for theater that brought her to Rome,...","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":474,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3444","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3444"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5565,"href":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3444\/revisions\/5565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loversff.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}