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 completed the principal photography of "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 granted a selective contribution by the Italian Culture Ministry.

His script "Comandante Diavolo" for Groenlandia Production has also received a selective production grant and will be directed by Matteo Rovere. ^[16]

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 and co-producer ^[17] - post-production
• "Tales of the March", 2023, immersive short, 12' - Producer and director ^[18]
• "American Ring", 2022, Documentary, colour, 80' - Producer and director ^[19]
• "The Poet who would be King" ("Il Poeta che volle farsi Re"), 2022, Documentary, colour, 85' - Producer and director ^[20]
• "People of Love and Rage", 2016, Docufiction, B/W, 88' - Writer and Director ^[21]
• "There Was Once a Sea", 2015, Documentary, colour, 84' - Writer and Director ^[22]
• "The Last Days of Tacheles", 2014, Documentary, colour, 93' - Writer and Director ^[23]

Fiction books

• "A morte Toscanini!", fiction, Bertoni Editore, 2024, ISBN   978-88-5535-814-9
• "Lavorare è un lusso", fiction, Edizioni progetto cultura, 2006, EAN   9788860920843

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. Sardelli, Monica (2025-07-01). "Contributi selettivi 2024 – Pubblicata la graduatoria completa dei progetti di Produzione della II sessione". Direzione generale Cinema e audiovisivo (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-08-11.
17. 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.
18. "Biennale Cinema 2021 | Biennale College Cinema Virtual Reality: the 12-19 January workshop". La Biennale di Venezia. 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
19. "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.
20. "Il poeta che volle farsi re - 2021 - documentari - film & docu". Filmitalia (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-04-08.
21. People of Love and Rage , retrieved 2020-02-06
22. There Was Once a Sea , retrieved 2020-02-06
23. The Last Days of Tacheles , retrieved 2020-02-06