Giada Colagrande

**Giada Colagrande** is an acclaimed Italian film director and actress whose work spans both narrative and documentary filmmaking. Born in Pescara, Abruzzo, she cultivated her artistic talents through studies in Italy, Switzerland, and Australia before relocating to Rome in 1995. There, she began her exploration of video art and documentaries centered on contemporary art.

From 1997 to 2000, Colagrande contributed to VOLUME, an art project where she created video portraits of seven influential contemporary artists, including Jannis Kounellis and Sol LeWitt. She also directed three short films: "Carnaval" (1997), "Fetus – 4 brings death" (1999), and "n.3" (2000).

Her feature film debut came in 2001 with "Aprimi il Cuore" (Open My Heart), which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2002 and garnered international acclaim, including a nomination for Best New Director at the Silver Ribbon in 2003. The film enjoyed distribution in Italy via Lucky Red and in the U.S. through Strand Releasing.

Colagrande's second feature, "Before it Had a Name," was released in 2005 and featured Willem Dafoe, screening at the Venice Film Festival and earning a global audience. In 2010, she directed "A Woman," also starring Dafoe, which premiered at Venice.

Her documentary work includes "Bob Wilson's Life & Death of Marina Abramović," which screened at prestigious venues like MoMA in New York and the Louvre in Paris in 2012. Continuing her collaboration with Abramović, the film "The Abramović Method" was showcased at the Venice Film Festival in 2013 and is now featured in museums worldwide.