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Martin Scorsese is set to become honorary president of Italy\u2019s David di Donatello Academy \u2013 with the legendary filmmaker saying Italian cinema has been a \u2018constant source of inspiration\u2018 throughout his life<\/p>\n
The 83-year-old Goodfellas and Taxi Driver director has accepted the position at the Accademia del Cinema Italiano, which oversees the David di Donatello Awards, Italy\u2019s equivalent of the Oscars. <\/p>\n
The proposal was made by Italian culture minister Alessandro Giuli, in agreement with the foundation\u2019s founding members and president Silvia Calandrelli, with its board now required to formally approve the appointment.<\/p>\n
In a statement addressed to Alessandro, Martin said: \u201cItalian cinema has been a constant source of inspiration throughout my life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe films, authors and artistic traditions born in Italy have profoundly shaped both my understanding of cinema and my work. Being associated, in this capacity, with the Academy and the David di Donatello Awards is particularly meaningful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nMartin added: \u201cI will be honoured to support the Academy\u2019s commitment to the international promotion of Italian cinema and film culture, and to contribute to its cultural initiatives and activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe filmmaker, whose family roots are in Sicily, has frequently spoken about the influence of Italian cinema on his career. <\/p>\n
\nHis body of work spans more than five decades and includes Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon.<\/p>\n
\nMartin won the Academy Award for best director for 2006 crime drama The Departed and has maintained long-running creative partnerships with actors Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.<\/p>\n
\nAlessandro said he proposed Martin for the honorary presidency \u201cbecause few filmmakers embody the profound connection between the great Italian tradition and the history of cinema like him\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nHe added: \u201cHis willingness to accept represents an extraordinary recognition for our cinema and for Italy, the land of his origins.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe appointment forms part of a wider overhaul at the David di Donatello Academy. <\/p>\n
\nGian Luca Farinelli, head of Bologna\u2019s Cineteca and its Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, has been appointed artistic director, while Silvia has taken over as president.<\/p>\n
\nGian Luca replaces some of the responsibilities previously held by film journalist Piera Detassis, who became the first woman to lead the awards in 2018. <\/p>\n
\nPiera had served both as president of the academy and artistic director, but the two positions have now been separated.<\/p>\n
\nSilvia, a senior executive at Italian state broadcaster RAI, holds the presidency, while Gian Luca oversees the awards as artistic director. <\/p>\n
\nMartin\u2019s honorary presidency adds a third senior figure to the revamped organisation, which said its governance changes will be completed with the appointment of an artistic steering committee.<\/p>\n
\nThe honour comes during another active period for Martin. <\/p>\n
\nHe recently served as an executive producer on Apple TV\u2019s Cape Fear, the Javier Bardem, Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson series inspired by the 1991 thriller Martin directed. <\/p>\n
\nSteven Spielberg, who produced Martin\u2019s original film, is also an executive producer on the television adaptation.<\/p>\n
\nMartin has also appeared on screen this year. <\/p>\n
\nHe voiced the Ardennian character Hugo Durant in Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu and played Richie \u2018Red\u2019 Rodriguez in Jonah Hill\u2019s Outcome.<\/p>\n
\nHis upcoming work includes Netflix drama The Roman, which reunites him with Oscar Isaac. <\/p>\n
\nMartin is executive producing the Las Vegas-set series, whose cast also includes Betty Gilpin, Alec Baldwin and David Costabile.<\/p>\n
\nMartin\u2019s latest Italian honor will become official following the David di Donatello Academy board\u2019s formal approval of his appointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"25 August 2026 Martin Scorsese is set to become honorary president of Italy\u2019s David di Donatello Academy \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[27774,7661,27768,27773,27775,27764,5,27767,27771,27766,19988,27772,27769,27765,21751,27744,27770],"class_list":["post-42393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-alec-baldwin","tag-alessandro-giuli","tag-amy-adams","tag-betty-gilpin","tag-david-costabile","tag-gian-luca-farinelli","tag-italy","tag-javier-bardem","tag-jonah-hill","tag-leonardo-dicaprio","tag-martin-scorsese","tag-oscar-isaac","tag-patrick-wilson","tag-piera-detassis","tag-robert-de-niro","tag-silvia-calandrelli","tag-steven-spielberg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}