Michele Placido is an Italian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco Bellocchio, winning the Berlinale's Silver Bear for Best Actor for his performance in the 1979 film Ernesto. He is known internationally for portraying police inspector Corrado Cattani on the crime drama television series La piovra (1984–2001). Placido's directorial debut, Pummarò, was screened Un Certain Regard at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Three of his films have competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He is a five-time Nastro d'Argento and four-time David di Donatello winner. In 2021, Placido was appointed President of the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara.
La Piovra is an Italian television drama series about the Mafia. The series was directed by various directors who each worked on different seasons, including Damiano Damiani, Florestano Vancini, Luigi Perelli, and Giacomo Battiato . The music was written by Riz Ortolani, Ennio Morricone, and by Paolo Buonvino.
Claudio Amendola is an Italian actor, director and television presenter. He starred in the 1993 film The Escort, which was entered into the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.
Tony Sperandeo is an Italian actor of cinema and television. Sperandeo is notable for frequently playing the roles of tough characters from his native region, Sicily. As of 2011, he was working on La Nuova Squadra, a police drama televised by Rai Tre, as the Superintendent Salvatore Sciacca.
Francesco Benigno, is an Italian actor, director, singer and television personality.
Boys on the Outside is a 1990 Italian drama film directed by Marco Risi in the neo-neorealistic style and written by Aurelio Grimaldi. Released in 1990, it is the sequel to the 1989 film Forever Mery. It stars Francesco Benigno, Alessandra Di Sanzo and Salvatore Termini.
Alessandra Di Sanzo, born 26 August 1969, is an Italian actress best known for her portrayal of the teenage trans prostitute Marilyn Libassi, nicknamed Mery in Marco Risi's dramatic film, Mery per sempre, which was released in 1989 and where she made her acting debut. She received a European Film Award nomination in 1989 for Best Supporting Actor for her performance. Di Sanzo played the same role in Risi's sequel, "Ragazzi fuori", released the following year. As in Mery per sempre, the film was set in Palermo, Sicily and it starred Sicilian actor Francesco Benigno.
Salvatore Termini is an Italian actor best known for his role as "Giovanni Trapani", nicknamed "King Kong", in two Italian language dramatic films directed by Marco Risi, "Mery per sempre", in which Termini made his acting debut, and its sequel, "Ragazzi fuori". They were both set in Palermo where Termini was born. He grew up in the bleak, economically deprived quarter of ZEN which features prominently in "Ragazzi Fuori".
Alessandra Carina Mastronardi is an Italian actress. She is best known for her roles in the films To Rome with Love and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and the television series Master of None, for which she garnered a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2017.
Specializing in the field of drama, with particular attention to the drama of its national heritage, the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico has played a key role in the Italian film and theater scene and is currently headed by Professor Luigi Maria Musati. It has prepared artists such as Margherita Buy, Vittorio Gassman, Luigi Lo Cascio, Anna Magnani, Nino Manfredi, and Monica Vitti. Other former alumni include Antoniano, Manuela Arcuri, Mino Bellei, Carmelo Bene, Dirk van den Berg, Giuliana Berlinguer, Alessio Boni, Alberto Bonucci, Giulio Bosetti, Renato De Carmine, Ennio Fantastichini, Gabriele Ferzetti (expelled), Scilla Gabel, Domiziana Giordano, Michele Placido, Luca Ronconi, Gian Maria Volonté and Lina Wertmüller.
Luigi Maria Burruano was an Italian film, stage and television actor. He began his career in Sicilian-language cabaret and theatre before turning his attention to films.
Palermo - Milan One Way is a 1995 Italian crime-action film directed by Claudio Fragasso.
Inferno Below is a 2003 Italian television miniseries directed by Antonio and Andrea Frazzi and starring Claudio Amendola and Maria Grazia Cucinotta.
