Stefano Casertano

Image of Stefano Casertano

Stefano Casertano is an Italian film director, screenwriter, producer and immersive media creator.

In 2025, Casertano wrote and directed "Elena's War", a WWII drama starring Micaela Ramazzotti, produced by Titanus and Rai Cinema. ^[1] He co-produced the film The Mafia Is No Longer What It Used to Be by Franco Maresco, awarded a "Silver Lion" as Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival - La Biennale di Venezia ^[2] in 2019. He directed the narrative VR film "Tales of the march", selected by the 80. Venice Film Festival for the "Venice Immersive" section in 2023. ^[3]

Casertano is an alumn of the Venice Biennale College for Virtual Reality. ^[4] He holds a Ph.D. "Magna cum Laude" in Politics from Potsdam University, and an MBA from Columbia University, New York. ^[5]

Film career

His first documentary, "The Last Days of Tacheles", won the Honorable Mention at the International Berlin Film Awards ^[6] .

His 2016 docufiction "People of Love and Rage" ("Gente di amore e Rabbia") won the DocFeed Film Festival in Eindhoven, ^[7] received the Special Mention of the Jury at the Rome Independent Film Festival ^[8] and has been selected by the Venice Film Week and the Broadway International Film Festival. ^{[9] [10]}

In 2021, his VR project "Tales of the March" was selected by the Venice Biennale for the development program "Biennale College VR" ^[11] and was granted support by the Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg. ^[12] Shooting started in March 2023 ^[13] and the film was later selected by the "Venice Immersive" section of the 80. Venice Film Festival. ^[14]

His film "The Poet who would be King" ("Il Poeta che volle farsi Re"), dedicated to poet Gabriele d'Annunzio and his "Impresa di Fiume", has been produced by Cinecittà - Luce and by Fondazione Vittoriale degli Italian i, starring historian Giordano Bruno Guerri and art-critic Vittorio Sgarbi. The film has been presented at Vittoriale for the 100th anniversary of d'Annunzio's ill-fated endeavour. ^[15]

In 2025, Casertano directed "Elena's War", a historical drama set in Rome during WWII. The film stars Micaela Ramazzotti and is produced by Titanus, Rai Cinema and Masi Film. The film has been presented at the 20. Rome Film Fest in 2025 within the "Grand Public" selection ^{[16] [17]} .

Casertano heads the production studio "Daring House", specializing in immersive, XR, film and video production.

Filmography

• "Elena del ghetto" ("Elena's War"), 2025, fiction, 110' - Director, writer and co-producer ^[18]
• "Tales of the March", 2023, immersive short, 12' - Producer and director ^[19]
• "American Ring", 2022, Documentary, colour, 80' - Producer and director ^[20]
• "The Poet who would be King" ("Il Poeta che volle farsi Re"), 2022, Documentary, colour, 85' - Producer, writer and director ^[21]
• "The mafia is no longer what it used to be" ("La mafia non è più quella di una volta") by Franco Maresco, 2019, Documentary, colour and b/w, 105', co-producer ^[22]
• "People of Love and Rage", 2016, Docufiction, B/W, 88' - Writer and Director ^[23]
• "There Was Once a Sea", 2015, Documentary, colour, 84' - Writer and Director ^[24]
• "The Last Days of Tacheles", 2014, Documentary, colour, 93' - Writer and Director ^[25]

Books

• "A morte Toscanini! Arturo Toscanini e gli schiaffi di Bologna", 2024, fiction, Bertoni Editore, 978-8855358149

References

1. "Elena's War (La guerra di Elena) - films in production - films & docu". Filmitalia. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
2. "'Mafia Is Not What It Used to Be' ('La Mafia non e piu quella di una volta'): Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . 10 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
3. "Biennale Cinema 2023 | Tales of the March". La Biennale di Venezia. 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
4. "The Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality workshop draws to a close". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
5. "The European - Das Debatten-Magazin". The European (in German). Retrieved 2024-11-14.
6. The Last Days of Tacheles (2014) - Awards - IMDb . Retrieved 2025-08-11– via www.imdb.com.
7. "PERSBERICHT DOCfeed award winnaars". Docfeed. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
8. "THE AWARDS OF THE XV EDITION OF THE RIFF: "YOU'LL NEVER BE ALONE" BY ALEX ANWANDTER. THE QUEER CHILEAN FILM WINS THE RIFF AWARDS". Rome Independent Film Festival. 1 December 2016.
9. Designova. "Venice Film Week". www.venicefilmweek.com. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
10. "Broadway International Film Festival". www.broadwayfilmfestival.com. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
11. "Biennale Cinema 2021 | Biennale College Cinema Virtual Reality: the 12-19 January workshop". La Biennale di Venezia. 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
12. "Medienboard fördert 16 Projekte im Bereich 'Innovative Audiovisuelle Inhalte'" [Medienboard supports 16 projects in the field of 'Innovative Audiovisual Content']. GamesMarkt (in German). 10 December 2020.
13. @medienboard (March 30, 2023). "Dreharbeiten in Brandenburg für den immersiven Fiction-Film 'Tales of the March' #mbbgefördert Das Projekt von Regisseur Stefano Casertano und VR Creator Tim Deussen war 2021 bei Venice VR @la_Biennale College ausgewählt!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. Barone, Martina (2023-09-06). "Tales of the March è l'esperienza direzionale VR sull'Olocausto". The Hollywood Reporter Roma (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-09-26.
15. "Festival Dannunziano: ritmo, velocità e movimento" [d'Annunzio Festival: Rhythm, Speed and Movement]. L'Opinione delle Libertà (in Italian). 25 August 2021.
16. Francesco, Davide Di (2025-10-22). "Elena del Ghetto, Micaela Ramazzotti: «Una donna viva, accesa dal coraggio e mai abitata dalla paura»". Ciak Magazine (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-10-26.
17. Angelini, Manuele. "Stefano Casertano - Elena del Ghetto Recensione". www.mescalina.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-10-26.
18. Francesco, Davide Di (2022-10-05). "Titanus, svelati i nuovi progetti in sviluppo per il 2023-2024". Ciak Magazine (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-04-08.
19. "Biennale Cinema 2021 | Biennale College Cinema Virtual Reality: the 12-19 January workshop". La Biennale di Venezia. 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
20. "American Ring: il documentario sull'incredibile mondo del wrestling- Video Gazzetta.it". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 21 September 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
21. "Il poeta che volle farsi re - 2021 - documentari - film & docu". Filmitalia (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-04-08.
22. "La mafia non è più quella di una volta", Wikipedia (in Italian), 2025-06-11, retrieved 2025-09-16
23. People of Love and Rage , retrieved 2020-02-06
24. There Was Once a Sea , retrieved 2020-02-06
25. The Last Days of Tacheles , retrieved 2020-02-06