Giada Colagrande Biography

Giada Colagrande is a filmmaker and actress from Italy. Her films are known for their unique observation of post-modernism and the human condition in today’s world. Colagrande was educated in her native country as well as in Switzerland and Australia. She began her career with a series of video shorts about eight contemporary artists. Released between 1997 and 2000, the series, which was named ‘VOLUME’, earned her international recognition. She wrote, produced, directed, and acted in the 2002 drama ‘Open My Mind’. The movie was selected to be shown at numerous film festivals across the globe. Receiving universal acclaim, the film won her the Prix de l'Avenir at the 2002 Paris International Cinema Meeting and the Best Director Award at the 2003 Sulmonacinema Film Festival. Since then, she has released three more feature films, two documentaries, and a video short. Her husband, American actor and filmmaker Willem Dafoe, has starred in most of her films alongside her.