Gianni Zanasi is an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor.
Gianni Zanasi was born in Vignola in 1965. After studying philosophy at the University of Bologna, he enrolled in a school of theatrical writing and a course in film directed by Nanni Moretti. He attended the Experimental Center of Cinematography in Rome, where in 1992 he graduated from directing.[1]
In 1992 made his first short film Le belle prove,[1] which won a prize at the Torino Film Festival. Two years later the same cast was reassembled for his first feature film, Nella mischia (1995), which was the first feature selected for Director's Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival.[1]
Zanasi also directed the television miniseries Fathers and Sons and the documentary Life is short but the day is long.[when?][citation needed]
He returned to feature films in 2007, with the comedy Don't Think About It, starring Valerio Mastandrea, Anita Caprioli, Giuseppe Battiston, Caterina Murino, and others. Critically acclaimed, the film gave rise in 2009 to a television series of the same name, broadcast by Fox Italy, directed by Zanasi and Pellegrini, with the same cast as the original title.[2]
In 2018 he directed Troppa grazia.[3][4]