Ginevra Elkann

Italian film director (born 1979)

Ginevra Elkann (born 24 September 1979) is a London-born Italian film producer and director, heiress and socialite. She is a member of the Agnelli family and granddaughter of Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli.^[1]

Early life

Elkann was born in London,^[1] on 24 September 1979,^[2]^[3] the daughter of the Italian Margherita Agnelli and the French-Italian writer Alain Elkann.^[4]^[5] Her father is Jewish and her mother is Catholic, and she was raised Catholic.^[6]^[7] Her maternal grandparents were princess and socialite Marella Agnelli and the industrialist Gianni Agnelli. She is the great-grandniece of Ettore Ovazza. She has two older brothers John Elkann, who is chairman of the Fiat group of companies, and Lapo Elkann.^[8] Her parents divorced when she was young, and she moved first to Rio de Janeiro and then to Paris with her mother and stepfather, the Russian count Serge de Pahlen.^[1] She graduated at the American University of Paris.^[9]

Career

Elkann worked as third assistant director on Bernardo Bertolucci's 1998 film L'assedio, and was video assistant on Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). She later studied filmmaking at the London Film School (LFS), where she achieved her master's degree. In 2005, her LFS graduation film, the nine-minute Vado a messa (I Am Going to Mass), was screened during a Cinema Schools special event at the 62nd Venice International Film Festival. Asked whether she had any particular subjects in mind for a feature-length film, she mentioned two: a thriller set in the world of synchronized swimming, and an adaptation of her father's story Piazza Carignano, which concerns a fascist Jew. It is inspired by the story of her father's side of the family, the influential Ovazza banking family, who were early allies and important financial patrons of Benito Mussolini and Italian fascism.^[10]

In 2009, Elkann founded production company Caspian Films, first producing Frontier Blues, her debut feature film by Iranian director and fellow LFS graduate Babak Jalali. This film was developed with support from the Cinéfondation of Cannes and premiered in competition at the 62nd Locarno Film Festival. She then produced other independent feature films such as White Shadow, directed by Noaz Deshe (2013), which won the Lion of the Future award at the 70th Venice International Film Festival; Chlorine, directed by Lamberto Sanfelice (2015), which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival; and again with Jalali on his third feature Land, which premiered in the Panorama section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.^[11]^[12]

In 2011, Elkann founded the production and distribution company Good Films,^[13] together with Francesco Melzi d'Eril, Luigi Musini, and Lorenzo Mieli.^[14] In 2019, her debut feature film as a director Magari (If Only) had its world premiere as the opening film at the 72nd Locarno Film Festival.^[15] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, theatrical distribution of the film could not go ahead as programmed, so the film was made available on RaiPlay, the streaming platform of Italian national broadcaster RAI in May 2020.^[16] It was nominated for the best first film in 2020 and best new director in 2021 to the Ciak d'oro.^[17]

Personal life

Elkann married Count Giovanni Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona (b. 1973) in a Roman Catholic ceremony in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 25 April 2009.^[7] She has two sons and a daughter with her husband; they were named Giacomo (b. 15 August 2009),^[18] Pietro (b. 31 October 2012),^[19] and Marella (b. 27 May 2014).^[20]

Filmography

Director

Vado a messa (2005) – short film
If Only (2019)

Producer

Frontier Blues (2009), directed by Babak Jalali
Noche (2013) directed by Leonardo Brzezicki
White Shadow (2013), directed by Noaz Deshe
Chlorine (2015), directed by Lamberto Sanfelic
Arianna (2015), directed by Carlo Lavagna
Prova contraria (2016), directed by Chiara Agnello – documentary
Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno (2017), directed by Abdellatif Kechiche
Land (2018), directed by Babak Jalali

Ancestry

Ancestors of Ginevra Elkann

8. Armand Elkann

4. Jean-Paul Elkann

9. Berthe Bloch

2. Alain Elkann

20. Ernesto Ovazza

10. Vittorio Ovazza

21. Celeste Malvano

5. Carla Ovazza

11. Olga Fubini

1. Ginevra Elkann

24. Giovanni Agnelli

12. Edoardo Agnelli

25. Clara Boselli

6. Giovanni Agnelli

26. Carlo Bourbon del Monte, 4th Prince of San Faustino

13. Donna Virginia Bourbon del Monte

27. Jane Allen Campbell

3. Margherita Agnelli

28. Nicola Caracciolo, 8th Prince of Castagneto, 2nd Duke of Melito

14. Filippo Caracciolo, 9th Prince of Castagneto, 3rd Duke of Melito

29. Meralda Mele Barese

7. Donna Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto

30. Charles Corning Clarke

15. Margaret Clarke

31. Alice Chandler

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Haskell, Rob (14 February 2014). "Portrait of a Lady". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Elward, Ronald (15 January 2010). "Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona". The Heirs of Europe. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Dell'Arti, Giorgio (30 May 2012). "Biografia di Ginevra Elkann". Cinquantamila.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ "Ginevra Elkann raconte des histoires à la Pinacoteca". Les Echos (in French). 14 December 2007. Archived from the original on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Conti, Samantha (April 2009). "Ginevra Elkann – The Invisible Agnelli". W. Archived from the original on 6 May 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Simpson, Victor L. (4 December 2004). "Jewish and Italian: Celebrity writer celebrates his heritage". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Ginevra Elkann, matrimonio a Marrakesh". La Stampa (in Italian). 26 April 2009. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ "Photos: Portraits of 'Fortune's Childrens'". Vanity Fair. No. June 2009. 14 May 2009. ISSN 1723-6673. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
^ "Ginevra Elkann età, marito, figli, biografia". Tag24 (in Italian). 29 November 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Schiavazzi, Vera (4 September 2004). "L'altra famiglia di John Elkann all'ombra delle sinagoghe". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Bhatia, Anubhav (19 February 2018). "Ginevra Elkann Talks About Her Directorial Debut 'Magari'". DesiMartini. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Rosser, Michael (25 May 2022). "The Match Factory boards Ginevra Elkann's star-studded 'I Told You So' (exclusive)". Screen International. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Medioal, Matteo (12 October 2012). "Lapo e Ginevra Elkann soci di Good Film". Italia Oggi (in Italian). No. 243. p. 12. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ "About". Good Films. January 2013. Archived from the original on 27 January 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Barraclough, Leo (30 July 2019). "First Look: Trailer for Locarno Film Festival's Opening Film 'Magari']". Variety. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Pasetti, Anna Maria (20 May 2020). "Coronavirus, otto film italiani per otto settimane su Rai Play. Si inizia con Magari, racconto intimo e disfunzionale di Ginevra Elkann". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ "Ciak d'oro 2020 – Migliore regista esordiente". Ciak (in Italian). 4 October 2020. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ "È nato il figlio di Ginevra Elkann". La Stampa (in Italian). 18 August 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ "È nato Pietro: fiocco azzurro per Ginevra Elkann". Vanity Fair (in Italian). 1 November 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Agnelli, Marella (23 August 2014). "Becoming an Agnelli". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 22 February 2023.