Luca Ciriello
Director, author and producer - CEO Lunia Film
Luca Ciriello (Naples, 1988) is an Italian documentary filmmaker, director, and film producer, and a member of the European Film Academy (EFA).
He graduated in Modern Philology, completed his Master's in Cinema at the Pigrecoemme Film School in Naples, and studied documentary filmmaking at the "FilmAp" Documentary Cinema Workshop, with teachers including Bruno Oliviero, Alessandro Rossetto, Carlotta Cristiani, Antonella Di Nocera, and Leonardo Di Costanzo.
He won the "Cultura Crea" grant from MiBACT and founded the film company "Lunia Film Srl." He has worked as a documentary filmmaker and reporter in Italy, Spain, France, Tanzania, Colombia, Senegal, and Sri Lanka.
In 2018, he won the Special Mention at the Lucania Film Festival and at the "Mamma Roma" Festival dell’Isola di Roma with his first documentary "Racconti dal Palavesuvio" (produced by Arci Movie and Parallelo 41 Produzioni).
In 2019, he produced the historical short film "Eroi Perduti," directed by Lorenzo Giroffi (winner of Best Film at the Digital Media Fest in Rome).
In 2020, he participated in the Venice Days - Giornate degli Autori (as part of the 77th Venice Film Festival) with the documentary "Quaranta Cavalli," (Forty Horsepower), produced by Lunia Film and ZaLab (Winner of the Laguna Sud Prize), shown and awarded in about 70 Italian and international festivals.
In the same year, he participated, with his documentary "L’armée rouge" (produced by Parallelo 41 and Lunia Film), at the Festival dei Popoli (Florence) and Fescaaal (Milan), winning various awards (Best Director at the Tulipani di Seta Nera Festival in Rome and Best Documentary at the Mario Puzo Corto Film Festival in Capo, Avellino).
He won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Laceno D’oro (Avellino) with the film "Ponticelli Terra Buona" (produced by Apulia Film Commission, Fondazione con il Sud, and Parallelo 41).
In 2023, his documentary film "API" was released, premiering in Italy at the Filmmaker Fest (Milan), Corto Dorico (Ancona), and Next Generation Shorts Festival (Bari).
His next documentary "Wasantha, the snake charmer" is in production (produced by Dugong, Samarcanda, L’Eubage), with filming currently underway in Sri Lanka.
He speaks Italian, Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, and Swahili. He is currently learning German and Sinhala.
FILMOGRAPHY
Api (documentary 20’), directed by Luca Ciriello
Produced by Lunia Film and L’Eubage
Filmmaker Festival (Milan), Corto Dorico (Ancona), The Next Generation Shorts (Bari).
L’armée rouge (documentary, 60’, 2020), directed by Luca Ciriello
Produced by Parallelo 41 and Lunia Film
Festival dei Popoli, Laceno D’Oro, Festival del Cinema Africano Asia e America latina, Varese International Film Festival, Ischia Global Fest, African Diaspora Film Festival (Florence – Special Mention), Le Fattizze Doc Fest (Nardò), Cinema Unesco Sotto le Stelle (Naples), Festival International du Cinéma Numérique de Cotonou (FICNC), Festival Tulipani di Seta Nera (Rome – Best Documentary), Frammenti Doc (Avellino), Mario Puzo Corto e a Capo Festival (Avellino).
Quaranta Cavalli (documentary, 10’, 2020), directed by Luca Ciriello
Produced by Lunia Film and ZaLab
77° Mostra Internazionale di Venezia (Giornate degli Autori), Accordi e Disaccordi, Vertigo Film Fest Milano (Monthly Winner), Capri Hollywood Film Festival (Capri), Corto Dorico (Ancona), Cactus Film Festival (Aosta), La Guarimba Film Festival (Amantea), Apulia Film Fest (Lecce - Winner), Lago Film Festival (Treviso - Winner), Mediterraneo Festival Corto (Diamante), Falvaterra Film Festival (Frosinone), Laceno D’oro (Avellino), Verona International Film Festival (Winner), Split Film Fest (Split, Croatia), Fickin’ (Kinshasa, Congo), London Super Shorts Film Festival (UK), Fice Ensenada (Argentina), Neptune Movie Awards (Bologna – Best Documentary), International Fest Roma Film Corto (Rome), Mieres International Short Film Festival (Spain), Corujinha Festivalbc (Brasil), Festival Renuac (Chile).
Ponticelli Terra Buona (collective documentary, 50’, 2020)
Produced by Apulia Film Commission, Fondazione con il Sud and Parallelo 41
Festival Visioni dal Mondo 2020 (Milan), Laceno D’oro (Audience Award - Best Documentary).
Ultras - The backstage (2020)
Backstage of Francesco Lettieri’s film ‘Ultras’
Produced by Indigo Film and Netflix
Una Scuola a colori (fiction, 7’, 2019)
Produced by Lunia Film and Associazione Tycho
Winner of the Napoli Film Festival (DireGiovani Prize– Shorts with Schools). Selected at the Giffoni Film Festival (Road to Giffoni) and Identity Film Festival (Alatri, Frosinone).
Racconti dal Palavesuvio (documentary, 14’, 2018)
Produced by Arci Movie Napoli and FILMaP
Festival dei Popoli (Florence) Laceno d’Oro (Avellino). Special Mention at the Lucania Film Festival (Pisticci) and Festival dell’Isola di Roma “Mamma Roma”.