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David di Donatello

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David di Donatello Awards
Current: 69th David di Donatello
A David di Donatello awarded in 2014
Awarded forThe best of Italian and foreign motion picture productions
Date1955; 69 years ago (1955)
CountryItaly
Presented byAcademy of Italian Cinema
First awarded5 June 1956
Websitewww.daviddidonatello.it

The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's David, a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance,[1] are film awards given out each year by the Accademia del Cinema Italiano (the Academy of Italian Cinema).[2] There are 26 award categories, as of 2023. The industry-voted awards are considered the Italian equivalent of the American Academy Awards.[3]

History

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The Italian studio complex Cinecittà, where the David di Donatello award ceremony has been held several times.

The David di Donatello film awards were founded in 1955 by the founding president of AGIS (Italian General Association for Show Business), businessman Italo Gemini, in order to honour the best of each year's Italian and foreign films. It was first awarded in Rome on 5 July 1956.[4]

The David di Donatello film awards follow the same criteria as the American Academy Awards.[3]

Sophia Loren, Alberto Sordi and Charlton Heston, David di Donatello 1961

Similar prizes had already existed in Italy for about a decade, such as the Nastro d'Argento, but these were voted on by film critics and journalists. The Donatellos are awarded by people within the film industry, including actors, producers, directors, screenwriters, and technicians.[5]

After Rome, from 1957 to 1980, the ceremony was held at the Greek Theatre in Taormina during Taormina Film Fest, then twice in Florence, finally returning to Rome, always with the support of the President of the Italian Republic and now with the collaboration of the Rome City Council cultural policies department.[6]

The founding organization, now called the Accademia del Cinema Italiano, works in concert with and thanks to the contribution of the Italian Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Tourism.[6]

The prizes are awarded primarily to Italian films, with a category dedicated to foreign-language films.

Presidents

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Italian President Ciampi shows the prize at the 2005 awards ceremony.

The following is a list of presidents of the Academy of Italian Cinema:[6]

President Start End Notes
Italo Gemini 1955 1970
Eitel Monaco 1971 1977
Paolo Grassi 1978 1980
Gian Luigi Rondi 1981 2016† President for life since 2009
Giuliano Montaldo 2016 2017 Interim
Piera Detassis[7] 2018 current First female to hold the office

† Died in office.

Trophy

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The David di Donatello trophy is in the form of a gold David statuette, a replica of Donatello's famous sculpture, on a square malachite base with a gold plaque recording the award category, year, and winner.[5]

The 1956 David by Bulgari, awarded to Gina Lollobrigida for Beautiful but Dangerous, was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2013.[8]

Award categories

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Retired awards

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Statistics

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Multiple prize-winning actors

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As of 2020, with seven awards each, Margherita Buy, Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, and Sophia Loren are the actors who have won the most Davids.[9][10]

  Women
Actor Leading Supporting Total
W N W N W N
Margherita Buy 5 13 2 3 7 16
Alberto Sordi 7 8 0 0 8
Vittorio Gassman 7 7 0 0 7
Sophia Loren 7 7 0 0 7
Giancarlo Giannini 4 7 1 3 5 10
Marcello Mastroianni 5 6 0 0 6
Monica Vitti 5 6 0 0 6
Marina Confalone 1 1 4 5 6
Valerio Mastandrea 2 8 2 5 4 13
Toni Servillo 4 10 0 1 11
Elio Germano 4 5 0 2 7
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi 4 6 0 0 6
Mariangela Melato 4 5 0 0 5
Nino Manfredi 4 4 0 0 4

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Trionfante e sereno nella sua nudità, David, simbolo del Rinascimento" (in Italian). Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  2. ^ Daniele Dottorini. "Festival e premi cinematografici" [Film festivals and awards] (in Italian). Treccani. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Oscar's Foreign Cousins". Variety. Variety Media. 9 December 1998. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  4. ^ Laviosa, Flavia (29 January 2015). "David di Donatello 1956–2016: Sixty Years of Awards" [Call for Papers] (PDF). Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies. Intellect. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  5. ^ a b "La storia dei David di Donatello dal 1955 a oggi" [The history of the David di Donatello from 1955 to today] (in Italian). Elle Magazine. 2 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b c "History of the David Di Donatello AWARDS". daviddidonatello.it. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  7. ^ D'Angelo, Francesca (4 May 2024). "David di Donatello 2024: Io capitano Miglior film, ma a sbancare è Paola Cortellesi". Elle. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Gold and malachite 'David'". Sotheby's.
  9. ^ "David di Donatello: La Storia" (in Italian). rai.it. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  10. ^ "David di Donatello 2018, 63 anni di Oscar del Cinema italiano" (in Italian). altrospettacolo.it. 18 March 2018. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2018. Tra gli attori più premiati di sempre troneggiano Alberto Sordi e Vittorio Gassman, entrambi a quota 7 David, vinti sempre come migliori attori protagonisti. La Meryl Streep del Cinema italiano è invece Margherita Buy, che ne ha vinti altrettanti (su 16 candidature)
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