Chiara Francini
Chiara Francini (born 20 December 1979 in Florence) is an Italian actress. Biography. Born in Florence, she graduated in humanities with a thesis in literary hermeneutics. After her graduation, she underwent a three-year theatre course in Florence, at the Teatro della Limonaia, directed by Barbara Nativi, under whose direction she played a role in "Peanuts", written by Fausto Paravidino. For two consecutive years she acted in Faccia da comico under the artistic direction of Serena Dandini at the Ambra Jovinelli theatre in Rome. She got into television through Marco Giusti, who offered her a role in "Blablabla  and Stracult". She then had a part in "Ragazze di San Frediano", directed by Vittorio Sindoni and in 2007 she was Marcia Meniconi, one of the protagonists of "Gente di mare 2". In 2008, she played a major role in the sitcom "Radio Sex", directed by Alessandro Baracco. Between 2007 and 2008 she took part in four movies: Leonardo Pieraccioni wanted her for the role of Giustina in "A Beautiful Wife", Francesco Patierno chose her for "Il mattino ha l'oro in bocca", Spike Lee, after casting her personally, had her play Fabiola, one of the victims of the Nazi massacre  of Sant'Anna di Stazzema, in "Miracle at St. Anna" and finally in 2008 Stefano Tummolini offered her the role of Stella in "Un altro pianeta" (Eng.: "One Day in a Life"), a film shown at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, where it was awarded the Queer Lion, and at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. In 2009, she acted in the television miniseries "Le segretarie del sesto piano", directed by Angelo Longoni, and in the movie "Feisbum!", directed by Emanuele Sana. In 2010, she appeared in the television series "Tutti pazzi per amore 2", directed by Riccardo Milani, in which  she played the character of Bea, and in the film noir "La donna velata", directed by Edoardo Margheriti. In 2010 and 2011, she played Martha in "Maschi contro femmine" ("Males vs Females") and "Femmine contro maschi" ("Females vs Males"), both directed by Fausto Brizzi. In 2011, she acted in "C'è chi dice no" (Eng. title: "Some Say No"), directed by Giambattista Avellino, "Cacao", directed by Luca Rea, and "Amici miei come tutto ebbe inizio", directed by Neri Parenti. In 2011, Francini was awarded the Biraghi Prize as "Shooting Star of the year" at the 68th Venice Film Festival, given by  the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. In 2011, she was part of the main cast in the television programme "Colorado" broadcast by Italia 2. That same year she also acted in "La peggior settimana della mia vita" (English title: "The Worst Week of My Life"), directed by Alessandro Genovesi and in "Un natale per due", a SKY Cinema production, which had the highest share ever recorded on the Italian SKY network, directed by Giambattista Avellino where apart from having a major role she also performed "Carmen" by Bizet. Finally that year, she returned to Rai 1 to once again  embody the character of Bea in "Tutti pazzi per amore 3", directed by Laura Muscardin. In 2012, she acted in the television mini series "Nero Wolfe" directed by Riccardo Donna and broadcast by Rai 1. In 2011, she was chosen as testimonial for Dolce&Gabbana in their men's SS2012 world campaign.