Paolo Sorrentino, a director, a screenwriter and a writer, was born in Naples on 31st May 1970. In 2001 he directed his first film "One Man Up" (Silver Ribbon as Best Debuting Director) which marked the beginning of a lucky cooperation with the actor Toni Servillo. In 2004, he confirmed his national critical and audience success and reached his international success with "The Consequence of Love", presented at the Cannes Film Festival, and awarded with several David di Donatello prizes. After "The Family Friend" (2006), "Il Divo" (2008) was released obtaining a great success abroad as well (Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival), Toni Servillo starring as the protagonist. In 2011, Sorrentino participated again in the Cannes Film Festival and surprised with "This must be the place", his first English speaking film, starring Sean Penn and Frances McDormand.

In 2013, after being presented at the Cannes Film Festival Premiere, "The Great Beauty" won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the Bafta as Best Foreign Film, four EFA, among these: Best European Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and nine David di Donatello prizes. The beauty of Rome is the spectacular background of the entire film whose protagonist is Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), a writer who seems to embody the contemporary contradictions, torn between sentiment and cynicism. As in all Sorrentino’s films, the soundtrack plays an important role in "The Great Beauty" as well, interchanging art music to pop music. In 2015, Sorrentino participated once more in the Cannes Film Festival with the film "Youth", played by Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano, and Jane Fonda, winning three EFA prizes, one Academy Award® nomination and two Golden Globe® nominations.

The TV series "The Young Pope", released in 2016, also bears his signature. It was nominated for the Golden Globe® for Best Male Performance and for the Emmy Awards for both Scenography and Photography. The film "Loro" (2018), playing Toni Servillo, Elena Sofia Ricci, Riccardo Scamarcio, was prized with the Silver Ribbon for Best Screenplay. Sorrentino shot the second series "The New Pope", set in the Vatican, in 2019, starring Jude Law and John Malkovich as protagonists. Paolo Sorrentino is also the author of the novel Hanno tutti ragione (ndt. Everybody is right), finalist at the Strega Prize in 2010, and two collections of short stories: Tony Pagoda e I suoi amici (2012) (ndt. Tony Pagoda and his friends) and Gli aspetti irrilevanti (2016) (ndt. The irrelevant aspects).

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City center

Casa dell’Architettura all’Acquario Romano
Piazza Manfredo Fanti, 47
Youth (2016)
This building, designed by Ettore Bernich (1850-1914) towards the end of the nineteenth century to become the Acquario di Roma, is now the seat of Casa dell’Architettura (ndt. The House of Architecture). Inside this round plan building, Lena (Rachel Weisz) sees the alpinist Luca Moroder (Robert Seethaler) who is helping a little girl to overcome her fears by climbing a climbing wall.

Piazza del Colosseo
The Great Beauty (2013)
The terrace of Jep Gambardella (Toni  Servillo) is located on the top floor of a building that overlooks the Colosseum and the ruins of the Temple of the Divo Claudio, in via Claudia. Here Jep has dinners and gives parties which   he comments with his friend Trumeau (Iaia Forte), “The conga lines we make at our parties are beautiful. They are beautiful because they don’t go anywhere.“ Still on the same terrace, one morning at sunrise, Jep surprises the pink flamingos taking off in the sky of Rome.

Via dei Fori Imperiali
Loro 1 (2018)
It is night-time and Sergio Morra (Riccardo Scamarcio), Kira (Kasia Smutniak), Tamara (Euridice Axen) and a group of girls are walking along via dei Fori Imperiali when a garbage truck ends up off the road to avoid a mouse, falling into the archaeological area, background of the Basilica Giulia.

Palazzo Venezia
Piazza Venezia, 3
The New Pope (2019-20)
In the fifteenth-century courtyard of Palazzo Venezia, Cardinal Spalletta (Massimo Ghini) gives the new Pope, John Paul III (John Malkovich), advice that sounds more like a blackmail.
In another scene in the series, the Consistory room can be recognized, while the Sala Regia and the Monumental Staircase of the Palace are crossed by the cardinal procession before entering the Sistine Chapel in episode 1 of The New Pope.

Musei Capitolini
Piazza del Campidoglio, 1
The Great  Beauty (2013)
Jep (Toni Servillo) and Ramona (Sabrina Ferilli) visit the Capitoline Museums on a night walk with their friend Stefano (Giorgio Pasotti), who “holds the keys of the most beautiful buildings in Rome”. You can recognize the speaking statue of Marforio in the courtyard of the Palazzo Nuovo while busts and ancient sculptures, including the dying Galata, appear, as in a dream, in the rooms of the museum.

Terme di Caracalla
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 52
The Great  Beauty (2013)
A Fellini-style night scene takes place inside one of the largest thermal baths of the ancient times. Jep (Toni Servillo) attends the rehearsal of an extraordinary magic show: the disappearance of a giraffe. Here, his friend Romano (Carlo Verdone) joins him and tells him he has decided to leave Rome forever, a city that has greatly disappointed him.

Aventino
The Great  Beauty (2013)
At sunrise, Jep (Toni  Servillo) strolls in front of the Basilica of Santa Sabina, where a nun is reprimanding a group of girls while another nun is collecting oranges standing on a ladder in the Orange Garden. On their night tour with their friend Stefano (Giorgio Pasotti), Jep (Toni Servillo) and Ramona (Sabrina Ferilli) also reach Villa del Priorato di Malta, known for the keyhole of the central door from which you can see the magnificent dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Thanks to a tree-lined avenue creating a perspective illusion, the dome appears closer than it really is.

The Young Pope (2016)
The scenes of the confessional were shot inside the church of Sant’Anselmo, characterized by a Romanesque-Lombard “style”.

Tempietto del Bramante in San Pietro in Montorio
Via Garibaldi, 33
The Great  Beauty (2013)
Inside this monument, by Donato Bramante (1444- 1514), important example of the Renaissance architecture, Jep (Toni Servillo) meets a mother who is looking for her daughter Francesca. Jep will find her in the crypt of the temple.

Villa Doria Pamphilj
Via di San Pancrazio
The Young Pope (2016)
Some glimpses of the sumptuous Villa appear in the scenes set in the summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, including the famous walks of pope Pius XIII (Jude Law) and sister Mary (Diane Keaton).

Fontana dell’Acqua Paola
Via Garibaldi
The Great Beauty (2013)
The “fontanone”, so fondly called by the Romans, marks the beginning of the film. A group of Japanese tourists is listening to the guide, when one of them collapses in front of the panoramic view of the city. The scene is accompanied by a female choir performing “I lie”, a song by the American composer David Lang (1957), from the central arch of the fountain.

Orto Botanico
Largo Cristina di Svezia, 24
The New Pope (2019-20)
Several scenes set in the Vatican Gardens were shot in the Botanical Garden of Rome. In episode 3, for example, we see the prelates climbing the Fountain of the Eleven Gushes to reach the Sistine Chapel where the pope will give his speech.

Palazzo Sacchetti
Via Giulia, 66
The Great Beauty (2013)
Reservation required
In this splendid palace, an extraordinary example of Renaissance architecture, Viola (Pamela Villoresi) lives together with her son Andrea (Luca Marinelli).

Palazzo Spada
Piazza Capo di Ferro, 13
The Great Beauty (2013)
Inside the Perspective Gallery, by Borromini (1599- 1677), Ramona (Sabrina Ferilli) walks backwards, revealing the optical illusion of the architecture conceived by the Baroque genius.

Palazzo Braschi
Piazza di San Pantaleo, 10
The Young Pope (2016)
Ludovica Ferrario’s sets have been set up on one floor of this palace, now home to the Museum of Rome. In fact, the papal apartments and the bathroom of pope Pius XIII (Jude Law) have been rebuilt inside.

Piazza Navona
The Great Beauty (2013)
It’s night, Jep (Toni Servillo) is strolling in Piazza Navona with Orietta (Isabella Ferrari) who lives in a wonderful building in the square. Jep asks her what her job is. “I’m rich,” she says. “Beautiful job”, Jep replies.

Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza
Corso del Rinascimento, 40
Il divo (2008)
Inside the complex of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza, by Francesco Borromini (1599-1677), once the seat of the University of Rome and now the seat of the State Archives of Rome, the car of Il divo (Toni Servillo) arrives and he is attacked by reporters.

Via del Corso
Il divo (2008)
At sunrise, “the divine” (Toni Servillo) strolls, protected by his bodyguards, along Via del Corso and reaches the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, in the homonymous square - where in real life senator Giulio Andreotti had his office.

Via Vittorio Veneto
The Great Beauty (2013)
The party for Jep’s 65th birthday (Toni Servillo) is held in a magnificent penthouse in via Bissolati n. 5, a side street of the famous Via Veneto. The Martini sign appears as a backdrop to the incredible evening, a reminder and tribute to the “dolce vita”.

Villa Medici
Viale della Trinità dei Monti, 1
The Great Beauty (2013)
The night walk of Jep (Toni Servillo) and Ramona (Sabrina Ferilli) ends at sunrise in the garden of Villa Medici, now home to the Academy of France.

Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia
Piazzale di Villa Giulia, 9
The Great Beauty (2013)
Jep (Toni Servillo) is in front of a wonderful photographic installation, by the artist Ron Sweet (Ivan Franek).

Quadraro-Cinecittà

Parco degli Acquedotti
The Great Beauty (2013)
In the Ancient Appian way park, Jep (Toni Servillo) attends the performance of Talia Concept (Anita Kravos) with a certain scepticism. The artist runs against one of the pillars of the Claudio Aqueduct hitting it and, with her head bleeding, she shouts to the audience “I don’t love you!”.

Studi Cinematografici di Cinecittà
The New Pope (2019-20)
The scenographer Ludovica Ferrario rebuilt the full-scale Sistine Chapel (except for its height), the interior and the outside of Saint Peter’s Basilica, as well as the pope’s Library, inside the installation theatres.

Roma's coast

Passoscuro
The Young Pope (2016)
On the beach chosen by Federico Fellini for the La Dolce Vita final scene, Esther (Ludivine Sagnier) finds the photo of pope Pius XIII (Jude Law) with the little Pius. The same location was also used to shoot the scene where cardinal Voiello, played by Silvio Orlando, talked with Girolamo (Edoardo Bussi) and his father Franco (Giancarlo Fares).

Villa di Castelfusano
Piazza Castel Fusano, 1
The New Pope (2019-20)
The scene in which pope Pius XIII (Jude Law) trains with gyrotonic, is shot in the Castelfusano gallery.