Barbara Cupisti


Barbara Cupisti is an Italian director and actress. As a director, she focuses mainly on human rights documentaries.

Career as actress

Cupisti started her career as a dancer with the Luis Falcó company. In 1981, she enrolled at the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico, which she left two years later to make her film debut in Tinto Brass' The Key. In 1989, she was the lead actress in Carlo Verdone's Il bambino e il poliziotto. She also worked on television, notably in the series Châteauvallon, Edera and Caro maestro. Horror film fans know her from her roles in several classics such as Stage Fright (1987 film), Cemetery Man, Opera (1987 film), The New York Ripper, Hell's Gate and The Church (1989 film).

Career as director

Since 2002 she started to work as director for Rai Cinema. Her first documentary film Mothers premiered at the 64th Venice International Film Festival and won the David di Donatello for Best Documentary of the year.
Her second documentary, Forbidden Childhood, was screened in the festival circuit and has received the Audience Award for the Best Documentary Film at the Bahrein International Human Rights Film Festival and the Amnesty International Cinema and Human Rights Award at the Pesaro International Film Festival for the New Cinema, and at the Bobbio Film Festival of Marco Bellocchio. UNICEF Italia gave to this movie the High Patronage.
, her third film, is about human trafficking in Italy. It was presented at the 2011 Venice Film Festival with the patronage of Amnesty International Italy and was a finalist at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.
Fratelli e Sorelle-storie di carcere is a two-episode documentary about the dramatic situation in Italian prisons. The film has been awarded with Premio Ilaria Alpi 2012, for the best documentary of the year and got the nomination for David di Donatello 2013.
Interferenze Rom 2013 was shot in the Republic of Macedonia, Italy, and France and talks about the Gipsy community in Europe.
Cupisti made a series of three documentaries about refugees from all over the word and the reasons for their exile, titled Exiles: The wars, Exiles: Tibet, and Exiles: The Environment.
In 2016 Exiles: The wars wins the Special Nastro d'argento of the National Syndicate of Italian Film Journalists.
In 2018, Womanity is released. The film tells the story of thirty-six hours of four women in India, Egypt and the United States. It attended the Rome Film Festival and won at the Italian Film Festival in Madrid.
In 2020, My America was released and shown at the Turin Film Festival and broadcast on RAI TV
In 2022 and 2023, she filmed "Hotel Sarajevo" and "Wartime notes", the first reflecting on the 30th anniversary since the siege of Sarajevo during the war in Bosnia, and the latter on the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the role played by Ukrainian women.

Filmography

Actress

YearTitleRoleNotes
1982The New York RipperHeatherFeature Film
1983The KeyLisa RolfeFeature Film
1985ChâteauvallonAlexandraTV series, 26 episodes
1985International AirportL'hostess di terraTV series, 3 episodes
1987Stage FrightAliciaFeature Film
1987Eleven Days, Eleven NightsAliciaFeature Film
1987OperaSignora AlbertiniFeature Film
1988Piazza NavonaTV series, 1 Episode: O Samba
1989The Hell's GateErnaFeature Film
1989La salle de bainDoctor's WifeFeature Film
1989The ChurchLisaFeature Film
1989Il bambino e il poliziottoLuciaFeature Film
1989Dark BarElisabethFeature Film
1990Flight from ParadiseAssassinFeature Film
1990Formula ITV series
1990Il volo di TeoFeature Film
1990EyewitnessElisaTV movie
1992EderaDalmaTV series, 21 episodes
1992Flesh and the DevilMaria CristinaTV movie
1994Cemetery ManMagdaFeature Film
1994Only YouAnnaFeature Film
1995L'anno prossimo... vado a letto alle dieciBettyFeature Film
1997The Grey ZoneFeature Film
1997Commercial BreakMary CantucciFeature Film
1999GialloparmaCristinaFeature Film
1999Not Registered Feature Film
2000DentiSegretaria Dott CalandraFeature Film
2001–02Distretto di PoliziaIrene MartiniTV series, 2 Episode: La vendetta, Doppio inganno
2002Total KheopsPaolaFeature Film
2002Sotto gli occhi di tuttiBarbaraFeature Film

Director

YearTitleNotes
2002The Water MaskFeature Film, Segment: Cornice
2007MothersDocumentary
2008Forbidden ChildhoodDocumentary
2011Io SonoDocumentary
2012Storie di carcereDocumentary
2013Interferenze RomDocumentary
2014Exiles. The WarsDocumentary
2015Exiles. TibetDocumentary
2016Exiles. The environmentDocumentary
2018WomanityDocumentary
2020My AmericaDocumentary
2022Hotel SarajevoDocumentary
2023Wartime NotesDocumentary