Irene Bignardi

Irene Bignardi
Born	1943 (1943) Quistello, Mantua, Italy
Occupations	Journalist Film Critic Author Film Festival Director
Years active	1976-2020
Spouse	Claudio Cassinelli ​ (died 1985)​
Children	1

Irene Bignardi (born 1943) is an Italian journalist, film critic and author. She was the senior film critic and culture writer at la Repubblica for over 15 years. She was the first female artistic director of the Locarno International Film Festival, a position she held from 2001 to 2005. She has worked at the Venice Film Festival, was the director of the MyFest film festival, and has served on many international film festival juries.

Education

She studied Literature at the University of Milan and went on to study in Communications at Stanford University under a Fulbright Fellowship. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Career

Bignardi worked as journalist at the newspaper la Repubblica since its founding in 1976. ^{[4] [1]} She wrote mainly about entertainment and culture becoming the senior film critic in 1989. ^[5] She was also a film critic for the weekly magazine l’Espresso from 1979 until her appointment as senior film critic at la Repubblica in 1989. ^{[1] [3] [6]}

In this same time period, she became involved in MystFest, the international Film Noir film festival held in Cattolica, Italy. ^[7] First she worked as an assistant to the festival head, Felice Laudadio, and eventually took over as festival director in 1986. ^{[7] [8]} She was the head of the festival for fours years, until 1989. ^[9]

In 1992 she became the co-head of the Venetian Nights section of the Venice Film Festival. ^[10] In 1999, she served on the Cannes Film Festival jury for the Un Certain Regard section. ^[11] She has also served on the juries at the San Sebastian Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. ^{[3] [12] [13]}  

In 2001 she was appointed the director of the Locarno Film Festival. ^{[14] [10]} She was the first female director of the festival and served as chef for five years. ^[15] She stepped down in 2005. ^{[16] [17]} In 2006 she became the president of FilmItalia and was in charge until 2008. ^{[4] [18] [1]} She retired from her position as a journalist and critic at la Repubblica in 2020. ^[1]

She is also the author of multiple articles and books on film as well as multiple documentaries. ^[1]

Personal life

She was born in Quistello, Mantua, Italy in 1943. ^[1] She was married to Italian actor Claudio Cassinelli until his death in 1985. Together the couple had one son. ^[19]

Awards

In 1996 Bignardi received the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, as a Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana, Italy’s highest civilian honor. ^{[2] [20] [3]}

Selected Works

• Zone. Vincenzo Castella. Arte. 1991.
• Ieri, oggi, domani. Cent'anni di cinema italiano, a cura di I. Bignardi, F. Ferzetti e G. Cosetti, Zephiro, 1995.
• Il declino dell'impero americano. 50 registi e 101 film, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1996, ISBN   978-88-078-1389-4
• Memorie estorte ad uno smemorato. Vita di Gillo Pontecorvo (Collana Serie Bianca ed.). Milano: Feltrinelli. 1999. ISBN   8807170337.
• Le piccole utopie. Milano: Feltrinelli. 2003. ISBN   8807170833.
• Americani. Un viaggio da Melville a Brando (Collana I nodi ed.). Venezia: Marsilio. 2005. ISBN   978-8831787086.
• Le cento e una sera. Piccola guida personale al cinema in DVD (Collana I nodi ed.). Venezia: Marsilio. 2008. ISBN   978-8831795142.
• Storie di cinema a Venezia (Collana I nodi ed.). Venezia: Marsilio. 2012 [Consorzio Venezia Nuova, 2011].
• Brevi incontri con Jorge Luis Borges, John Le Carré, Billy Wilder, Graham Greene, Mary McCarthy, François Truffaut, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Leni Riefensthal, Susan Sontag, Isaiah Berlin... (Collana I nodi ed.). Venezia: Marsilio. 2013. ISBN   9788831716772.
• Kerestetìl. Astoria. 2017. ISBN   978-8898713684.

References

1. "Bignardi, Irene - Enciclopedia". Treccani (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-08-11.
2. Leybold-Johnson, Isobel (2004-08-04). "Bignardi turns the camera on the press - In Brief". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
3. "Irene Bignardi | World Leaders Forum". worldleaders.columbia.edu. Colombia. March 2006. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
4. "Flag posts". Hollywood Reporter, Suppl.15th Annual Women in Entertainment Power 100. Vol. 397. December 2006. pp. 115, 119, 122. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
5. Lane, John Francis (May 6, 1989). "International news: bignardi turns film critic". Screen International. No. 703. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
6. "Irene Bignardi". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
7. "Pictures: 7th mystfest boasts 1st femme topper, berlusconi support". Variety. Vol. 323, no. 30. July 2, 1986. pp. 7, 21. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
8. Grassi, Giovanna (April 19, 1988). "Cattolica gears for mystery film festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Vol. 302, no. 2. pp. I3. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
9. Haefliger, Markus (2001-08-03). "Locarno film festival opens with new director". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
10. Vivarelli, N. (2000). "Bignardi tapped for locarno festival post". The Hollywood Reporter. Vol. 365, no. 13. p. 65. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
11. "Irène BIGNARDI". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
12. "Irene Bignardi during 2006 Sundance Film Festival - Sundance Jury..." Getty Images. 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
13. McClintock, Pamela (2006-01-16). "Sundance goes global to fill jury box". Variety. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
14. Vivarelli, Nick (June 5, 2001). "Locarno to fete Sundance, Sahiers". The Hollywood Reporter. Vol. 368, no. 29. pp. 12, 63. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
15. Haefliger, Markus (August 3, 2001). "Locarno film festival opens with new director". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
16. Gehring, Françoise (2005-07-22). "Bignardi reflects on her legacy to Locarno". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
17. "Bignardi ending run at helm of locarno festival". The Hollywood Reporter. Vol. 389, no. 40. June 28, 2005. p. 48. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
18. Lyman, E. J. (2006). "Lion pride". Hollywood Reporter. Vol. 395. pp. 19–21. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
19. "Italian actor Claudio Cassinelli, 46, and a helicopter pilot... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
20. "Gazzetta Ufficiale". www.gazzettaufficiale.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-08-11.