Draft:Andrea Gatopoulos

Andrea Gatopoulos (born 11 April 1994) is an Italian film director. Member of the European Film Academy and alumnus of Berlinale Talents and of Locarno Spring Academy, in 2022 he was selected for the Quinzaine des cinéastes with the short film Happy New Year, Jim. In 2023 he was selected at the Turin Film Festival with the documentary A Stranger Quest. In 2024 he was in the official selection at the Nastro d'argento with Eschaton Ad.

Biography
Graduated in Literature, Cinema and Entertainment at La Sapienza University, he lives in Rome where he founded the production company Il Varco Cinema and the distribution Gargantua Film. He trained by studying in the ateliers of directors such as Werner Herzog, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Radu Jude. His projects, known for a radical, linguistically experimental, independent and zero-budget approach, have been presented at more than 200 festivals around the world.

In 2021, he filmed Polepole on the island of Zanzibar, presented at Camerimage and Visioni Italiane and nominated for the Golden Frog. The same year he participated in Werner Herzog's atelier with whom he shot Flores del precipicio, presented at the Motovun Festival and Visioni Italiane and winner of the France.tv special prize at the Figari Film Festival.

In 2022, his short film Happy New Year, Jim, shot within Red Dead Redemption 2, is the first machinima in history to be presented in selection at the Cannes Film Festival, in the Directors' Fortnight. The film, which talks about alienation and the search for friendship in virtual spaces, was presented at more than 40 festivals around the world, winning the Honorable Mention at the Spiga d'Oro at the Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid and numerous other awards.

In 2023 he made the short film Eschaton Ad during the Spring Academy of the Locarno Film Festival, with the supervision of Radu Jude, presented at the same Locarno festival in August.

In 2023, A stranger quest filmed in the United States and Canada, a documentary on the map collector David Rumsey. The film had its national premiere at the Torino Film Festival and its international premiere at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The film was screened at Stanford University in April 2024.

He regularly holds lectures and masterclasses at universities and festivals on the future of creativity and the dialogue between humans and artificial intelligence, including Stanford, RUFA, Laba, Cinemazero, FMK, Castrovillari Film Festival, Desenzano Film Festival.

In 2024 he is invited to join the European Film Academy and he is invited to be part of Berlinale Talents.

Short Films

 * Polepole (2021)
 * Flores del precipicio (2022)
 * Happy New Year, Jim (2022)
 * Eschaton Ad (2023)

Documentaries

 * A stranger quest (2023)

Featuers

 * ''A stranger quest' by Andrea Gatopoulos (2023)
 * Sacro Moderno, by Lorenzo Pallotta (2022)
 * Lumina, by Samuele Sestieri (2021)
 * Polvere by Antonio Romagnoli (2020)

Short Films

 * New, by Zhenia Kazankina (2024)
 * Las memorias perdidas de los arboles, by Antonio La Camera (2023)
 * Black Eyed Dog, by Alessandro Zolfanelli (2023)
 * Au revoir, Pugs, by Brett Allen Smith (2023)
 * Eva, by Rossella Inglese (2021)

Books

 * A stranger journey, Il Varco Edizioni (2024)
 * Amigdala, Il Varco Edizioni (2017)

Awards

 * Camerimage
 * 2021 - Golden Frog nominee for Polepole
 * Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid
 * 2022 – Honorable mention for the Golden Spike for Happy New Year, Jim
 * Tirana Film Festival
 * 2022 – Best experimental short for Happy New Year, Jim
 * Fantastic Fest
 * 2022 – Honorable mention for Happy New Year, Jim
 * Figari ISFF
 * 2023 – Special Award France.tv for Flores del precipicio
 * Premio Ermanno Olmi
 * 2023 – Ermanno Olmi award for Flores del precipicio
 * Visioni Corte
 * 2023 – Best Film with Flores del precipicio
 * Adriatic Film Festival
 * 2023 – Best Poster for Happy New Year, Jim
 * Nastri d'argento
 * 2024 – official selection Corti d'Argento with Eschaton Ad
 * 2020 - official selection Corti d'Argento with Materia Celeste