David di Donatello

The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's David, a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance,[1] are film awards given out each year by the Accademia del Cinema Italiano (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award categories, as of 2023.

David di Donatello Awards
Current: 66th David di Donatello Awards
A David di Donatello awarded in 2014
Awarded forThe best of Italian and foreign motion picture productions
Date1955 (1955)
CountryItaly
Presented byAcademy of Italian Cinema
First awarded5 June 1956
Websitewww.daviddidonatello.it

The industry-voted awards are considered the Italian equivalent of the American Academy Awards[2] and rank among top-tier awards such as the Premio Regia Televisiva for television, the Premio Ubu for stage performances, the Sanremo Music Festival, and the annual Venice Film Festival, which hosts the Golden Lion film award.[3]

History

The David di Donatello film awards follow the same criteria as the American Academy Awards.[2] The ceremony was established in 1955 in order to honour the best of each year's Italian and foreign films, and first awarded in Rome on 5 July 1956.[4]

Similar prizes had already existed in Italy for about a decade, such as the Nastro d'Argento, but these were voted on by film critics and journalists. However, the Donatellos are awarded by people within the film industry, including actors, producers, directors, screenwriters, and technicians.

After Rome, from 1957 to 1980, the ceremony was held at the Greek Theatre in Taormina during Taormina Film Fest, then twice in Florence, finally returning to Rome, always with the support of the President of the Italian Republic and now with the collaboration of the Rome City Council cultural policies department. During the years 1950s, when the ceremony was held in Taormina, it was organized by journalist and film producer Michael Stern, who later went on to found The Michael Stern Parkinson's Research Foundation in New York City.

The founding organization, now called the Accademia del Cinema Italiano, works in concert with and thanks to the contribution of the Italian Ministry of Performing Arts and the Ministry for Cultural Properties and Activities.

The prizes are awarded primarily to Italian films, with a category dedicated to foreign-language films.

Presidents
Italian President Ciampi shows the prize at the 2005 awards ceremony.

Here is a list of presidents of the Academy of Italian Cinema:

President Start End Notes
Italo Gemini 1955 1970
Eitel Monaco 1971 1977
Paolo Grassi 1978 1980
Gian Luigi Rondi 1981 2016† President for life since 2009
Giuliano Montaldo 2016 2017 Interim
Piera Detassis 2018 current First female to hold the office

† Died in office.

Trophy

The David di Donatello trophy is in the form of a gold David statuette, a replica of Donatello's famous sculpture, on a square malachite base with a gold plaque recording the award category, year, and winner.

The 1956 David by Bulgari, awarded to Gina Lollobrigida for Beautiful but Dangerous, was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2013.[5]

Award categories

Retired awards
  • David di Donatello for Best Foreign Director (1966–1990)
  • David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor (1957–1996)
  • David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress (1957–1996)
  • David di Donatello for Best New Actor (1982–1983)
  • David di Donatello for Best New Actress (1982–1983)
  • David di Donatello for Best European Film (2004–2018, merged into Best Foreign Film)
  • David di Donatello for Best Screenplay (1975–2016, split into Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay)
  • David di Donatello for Best Foreign Producer (1956–1990 except 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, and from 1972 to 1980)
  • David di Donatello for Best Foreign Screenplay (1979–1990)
  • David di Donatello for Best Foreign Score (1979–1980)
  • Golden plaque (1956–2001 except 1961, 1962, from 1975 to 1983, and from 1985 to 1989)
  • European David (1973–1983)
  • David Franco Cristaldi (1992 and 1993)
  • David Luchino Visconti (1976–1995)
  • David René Clair (1982–1987)
  • Alitalia Award (1984–1991)
  • Gold medal of the Municipality of Rome
  • Gold medal of the Minister for Tourism and Entertainment

Statistics

Multiple prize-winning actors

As of 2020, with seven awards each, Margherita Buy, Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, and Sophia Loren are the actors who have won the most Davids.[6][7]

  Women
Actor Leading Supporting Total
WN WN WN
Margherita Buy 513 23 7 16
Alberto Sordi 78 00 8
Vittorio Gassman 77 00 7
Sophia Loren 77 00 7
Giancarlo Giannini 47 13 5 10
Marcello Mastroianni 56 00 6
Monica Vitti 56 00 6
Marina Confalone 11 45 6
Valerio Mastandrea 28 25 413
Toni Servillo 410 01 11
Elio Germano 45 02 7
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi 46 00 6
Mariangela Melato 45 00 5
Nino Manfredi 44 00 4

See also

References
  1. "Trionfante e sereno nella sua nudità, David, simbolo del Rinascimento" (in Italian). Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  2. "Oscar's Foreign Cousins". Variety. Variety Media. 9 December 1998. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  3. "Sackler Documentary 'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed' Wins Venice 2002 Golden Lion Award for Best Film". The Hollywood Reporter. 10 September 2022.
  4. Laviosa, Flavia (29 January 2015). "David di Donatello 1956–2016: Sixty Years of Awards" [Call for Papers] (PDF). Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies. Intellect. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  5. "Gold and malachite 'David'". Sotheby's.
  6. "David di Donatello: La Storia" (in Italian). rai.it. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  7. "David di Donatello 2018, 63 anni di Oscar del Cinema italiano" (in Italian). altrospettacolo.it. 18 March 2018. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2018. Tra gli attori più premiati di sempre troneggiano Alberto Sordi e Vittorio Gassman, entrambi a quota 7 David, vinti sempre come migliori attori protagonisti. La Meryl Streep del Cinema italiano è invece Margherita Buy, che ne ha vinti altrettanti (su 16 candidature)
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