TSPDT

Key Production Countries: Italy, USA
Key Genres: Drama, Romance, Coming-of-Age, LGBT-Related Film, Horror, Comedy Drama, Thriller
Key Collaborators: Marco Morabito (Producer), Walter Fasano (Editor), Tilda Swinton (Leading Actress), David Kajganich (Screenwriter/Producer), Francesco Melzi d'Eril (Producer), Timothée Chalamet (Leading Actor), Dakota Johnson (Leading Actress), Gabriele Moratti (Producer), Peter Spears (Producer), Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Cinematographer), Yorick Le Saux (Cinematographer), Michael Stuhlbarg (Character Actor)

"Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino has become a vital name in the industry over the past decade, earning acclaim for his nuanced and psychological exploration of his characters… The director has moved through genres, from psychological drama to romance and horror, proving that he is capable of incredible range. He once told The Independent: "I choose not to have a style. The language that a movie speaks is more important than the style. It needs to be understood in its individuality. I never start with the mise-en-scène. I start with the people." - Aimee Ferrier (Far Out Magazine, 2023)

"What sets Guadagnino apart from his contemporaries is not just his uncanny ability to capture beauty in the everyday, but also his brazen willingness to experiment with form and genre. Whether reinventing classic horror tropes or crafting fashion films for the likes of Ferragamo and Loewe, his storytelling is constantly grounded in the deeply human experience of desire. Underneath his penchant for lingering shots of endless blue skies, cascading waterfalls and just-ripe peaches, he asks us: what would it be like to give in to everything that life has to offer?" - Shin Hui Lee (AnOther Magazine, 2024)

"The films of Italian director Luca Guadagnino are at once gorgeous, voyeuristic immersions in haute bourgeois life and deeply humanist excavations of the nature of desire and identity." - Hillary Weston (The Criterion Collection, 2017)

"Internationally renowned director Luca Guadagnino made his debut in 1999 with The Protagonists, a crime thriller set in London starring Tilda Swinton. Since then, he has continued to dive deeply into characters’ psyches and the dark waters of desire, love, and horror, portraying intimate relationships with vivid, natural ease. His adaptation of Call Me by Your Name, a sensual and moving vision of secret passions, was nominated for Best Picture at the 2018 Academy Awards." - Walker Art Center, 2018

"Guadagnino doesn’t think of himself as an Italian director, and he has never made a film in the Italian production system. “I don’t understand the imagery of Italian cinema,” he says. “I don’t understand what they’re doing and how I can fit into its mold.” The most American thing about his films, today, might be the masks they wear—a realism based not on classical beacons of meaning but on the veils of wishfulness and contradiction which obscure such meanings in the human wild." - Nathan Heller (The New Yorker, 2018)

"Guadagnino’s works are particularly noted for their visual allure and a deep sense of place that envelops viewers. He often utilises mesmerising landscapes and stunning locales that not only serve as a backdrop but also as crucial elements weaving through the narrative, evoking moods, and reflecting characters’ internal states. For instance, in I Am Love, the filmmaker employs the cityscape of Milan and the villa setting as expressive canvases reflecting the protagonist’s transformative journey and changing dynamics within a wealthy family." - Bronze Screen Dream

"A script is something that inspires you and then you start working on it with your writer to power your own vision and that of the writer at the same time. It’s a beautifully laborious process that leads you to what you finally feel is the best tool to allow you to start shooting. Remember, a movie is written three times: a movie is written when the script is written; a movie is written when it’s being shot; and a movie is written when it’s edited. And so, in that sense, writing is a constantly unstoppable process in my life and a constituent part of cinema at all levels." - Luca Guadagnino (Little White Lies, 2024)