Stefano Casertano

Image of Stefano Casertano

Stefano Casertano is an Italian film director, screenwriter, producer and immersive media creator.

In 2025, Casertano wrote and directed "Elena's War", a WWII drama starring Micaela Ramazzotti, produced by Titanus and Rai Cinema.[1] He co-produced the film The Mafia Is No Longer What It Used to Be by Franco Maresco, awarded a "Silver Lion" as Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival - La Biennale di Venezia[2] in 2019. He directed the narrative VR film "Tales of the march", selected by the 80. Venice Film Festival for the "Venice Immersive" section in 2023.[3]

Casertano is an alumn of the Venice Biennale College for Virtual Reality.[4] He holds a Ph.D. "Magna cum Laude" in Politics from Potsdam University, and an MBA from Columbia University, New York.[5]

Film career

His first documentary, "The Last Days of Tacheles", won the Honorable Mention at the International Berlin Film Awards[6].

His 2016 docufiction "People of Love and Rage" ("Gente di amore e Rabbia") won the DocFeed Film Festival in Eindhoven,[7] received the Special Mention of the Jury at the Rome Independent Film Festival[8] and has been selected by the Venice Film Week and the Broadway International Film Festival.[9][10]

In 2021, his VR project "Tales of the March" was selected by the Venice Biennale for the development program "Biennale College VR"[11] and was granted support by the Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg.[12] Shooting started in March 2023[13] and the film was later selected by the "Venice Immersive" section of the 80. Venice Film Festival.[14]

His film "The Poet who would be King" ("Il Poeta che volle farsi Re"), dedicated to poet Gabriele d'Annunzio and his "Impresa di Fiume", has been produced by Cinecittà - Luce and by Fondazione Vittoriale degli Italiani, starring historian Giordano Bruno Guerri and art-critic Vittorio Sgarbi. The film has been presented at Vittoriale for the 100th anniversary of d'Annunzio's ill-fated endeavour.[15]

In 2025, Casertano completed the principal photography of "Elena's War", a historical drama set in Rome during WWII. The film stars Micaela Ramazzotti and is produced by Titanus, Rai Cinema and Masi Film. The film has been granted a selective contribution by the Italian Culture Ministry.

His script "Comandante Diavolo" for Groenlandia Production has also received a selective production grant and will be directed by Matteo Rovere.[16]

Casertano heads the production studio "Daring House", specializing in immersive, XR, film and video production.

Filmography

  • "Elena del ghetto" ("Elena's War"), 2025, fiction, 110' - Director and co-producer[17] - post-production
  • "Tales of the March", 2023, immersive short, 12' - Producer and director[18]
  • "American Ring", 2022, Documentary, colour, 80' - Producer and director[19]
  • "The Poet who would be King" ("Il Poeta che volle farsi Re"), 2022, Documentary, colour, 85' - Producer and director[20]
  • "People of Love and Rage", 2016, Docufiction, B/W, 88' - Writer and Director[21]
  • "There Was Once a Sea", 2015, Documentary, colour, 84' - Writer and Director[22]
  • "The Last Days of Tacheles", 2014, Documentary, colour, 93' - Writer and Director[23]

Fiction books

  • "A morte Toscanini!", fiction, Bertoni Editore, 2024, ISBN 978-88-5535-814-9
  • "Lavorare è un lusso", fiction, Edizioni progetto cultura, 2006, EAN 9788860920843

References

  1. ^ "Elena's War (La guerra di Elena) - films in production - films & docu". Filmitalia. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  2. ^ "'Mafia Is Not What It Used to Be' ('La Mafia non e piu quella di una volta'): Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  3. ^ "Biennale Cinema 2023 | Tales of the March". La Biennale di Venezia. 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  4. ^ "The Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality workshop draws to a close". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  5. ^ "The European - Das Debatten-Magazin". The European (in German). Retrieved 2024-11-14.
  6. ^ The Last Days of Tacheles (2014) - Awards - IMDb. Retrieved 2025-08-11 – via www.imdb.com.
  7. ^ "PERSBERICHT DOCfeed award winnaars". Docfeed. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  8. ^ "THE AWARDS OF THE XV EDITION OF THE RIFF: "YOU'LL NEVER BE ALONE" BY ALEX ANWANDTER. THE QUEER CHILEAN FILM WINS THE RIFF AWARDS". Rome Independent Film Festival. 1 December 2016.
  9. ^ Designova. "Venice Film Week". www.venicefilmweek.com. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  10. ^ "Broadway International Film Festival". www.broadwayfilmfestival.com. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  11. ^ "Biennale Cinema 2021 | Biennale College Cinema Virtual Reality: the 12-19 January workshop". La Biennale di Venezia. 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  12. ^ "Medienboard fördert 16 Projekte im Bereich 'Innovative Audiovisuelle Inhalte'" [Medienboard supports 16 projects in the field of 'Innovative Audiovisual Content']. GamesMarkt (in German). 10 December 2020.
  13. ^ @medienboard (March 30, 2023). "Dreharbeiten in Brandenburg für den immersiven Fiction-Film 'Tales of the March' #mbbgefördert Das Projekt von Regisseur Stefano Casertano und VR Creator Tim Deussen war 2021 bei Venice VR @la_Biennale College ausgewählt!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Barone, Martina (2023-09-06). "Tales of the March è l'esperienza direzionale VR sull'Olocausto". The Hollywood Reporter Roma (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  15. ^ "Festival Dannunziano: ritmo, velocità e movimento" [d'Annunzio Festival: Rhythm, Speed and Movement]. L'Opinione delle Libertà (in Italian). 25 August 2021.
  16. ^ Sardelli, Monica (2025-07-01). "Contributi selettivi 2024 – Pubblicata la graduatoria completa dei progetti di Produzione della II sessione". Direzione generale Cinema e audiovisivo (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  17. ^ Francesco, Davide Di (2022-10-05). "Titanus, svelati i nuovi progetti in sviluppo per il 2023-2024". Ciak Magazine (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  18. ^ "Biennale Cinema 2021 | Biennale College Cinema Virtual Reality: the 12-19 January workshop". La Biennale di Venezia. 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  19. ^ "American Ring: il documentario sull'incredibile mondo del wrestling- Video Gazzetta.it". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 21 September 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  20. ^ "Il poeta che volle farsi re - 2021 - documentari - film & docu". Filmitalia (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  21. ^ People of Love and Rage, retrieved 2020-02-06
  22. ^ There Was Once a Sea, retrieved 2020-02-06
  23. ^ The Last Days of Tacheles, retrieved 2020-02-06
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