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Daniele Gangemi was born in Catania. At fifteen, he developed a passion for photography, experimenting with an analogue reflex camera and the tools available at the time. During these years, he also worked as an author and host at two local TV stations in his city. His versatility soon extended to radio, where he spent over fifteen years as a speaker and author of several successful Sicilian radio programs. Between 2002 and 2003 in Bologna, he made his debut as director, producer, and screenwriter with the short film "Alter Ego," shot in a single sequence on super8 film. In 2007, Daniele was hired to handle the photography for the historical-religious film "Petali di Rosa," featuring Claudia Koll and Antonella Ponziani, one of Federico Fellini's last muses.
In 2008, he returned to Catania to direct his first feature film, "Una notte blu cobalto," for which he also wrote the story and screenplay. This project allowed him to work with renowned actors such as Alessandro Haber, Corrado Fortuna, Regina Orioli, and Valentina Carnelutti, while entrusting the original soundtrack composition to Giuliano Sangiorgi, lead singer of Negramaro. In 2009, he was officially invited to compete at the 42nd Worldfest International Independent Film Festival in Houston, Texas—the oldest independent film festival worldwide, known for discovering filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ang Lee, Ridley Scott, Robert Rodriguez, the Coen Brothers, Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, and David Lynch. There, he premiered "A cobalt blue night," winning the prestigious "Best First Feature" award, which established Gangemi as a leading talent in the international indie cinema scene.
In 2010, Bolero Film brought his work to Italian cinemas, and in 2011 CG Home Video distributed the DVD of "A cobalt blue night" worldwide. In 2013, for the "XVII Child Victim Day," the renowned organization "Meter," led by Don Fortunato Di Noto, commissioned him to direct a campaign against pedophilia dedicated to child victims. That same year, Daniele's work was recognized by the "BBC Music Video Festival" with the music video "Safari Now," which he conceived, wrote, and directed. Since 2013, he has also worked as Director of Photography for several emerging directors, supporting their debuts.
Since 2018, he has been the Founder and Artistic Director of the Militello Independent Film Fest, an international independent cinema festival dubbed the "Anti-Venice" by national press due to its indie focus and its timing alongside the Venice Film Festival. The festival earned the title of best independent Italian festival, a distinction previously held exclusively by the Turin Film Festival, and even secured official presentation at the Italian Pavilion of the Cannes Film Festival for its second edition. Recently, Gangemi wrote and directed the award-winning music video for "Silence in silence," a song by the acclaimed Sicilian singer-songwriter Mario Venuti.
In late October 2020, he released the now-cult Pilot Episode of the series "Fratelli Noir," starring Renny Zapato and Francesco Turrisi, with original music by Salvo Bruno Dub. Within about a year, it was officially selected for nearly 100 prestigious international film festivals and won over 40 awards. In 2021, he directed the documentary "Ti racconto tuo padre," focusing on the renowned actor Fabrizio Bracconeri, a celebrated figure of 1980s Italian TV. The film follows Bracconeri during a sea voyage as he attempts to communicate his story, choices, hopes, and dreams to his severely autistic son Emanuele.
In 2022, Gangemi devoted himself to another documentary, "Qualcosa brucia ancora," offering a cinematic exploration of Mario Venuti’s life. It revisits Venuti’s early memories, his initial steps in music amid an underground and mysterious Catania, his "epic" decade with Denovo, and his subsequent years of success as a solo artist leading up to the present day. Gangemi’s latest cinematic endeavor is the Latina Independent Film Festival, which continues to champion independent and auteur cinema.
By April 2022, at just 41 years old, Daniele Gangemi had already earned more than 60 prestigious awards officially documented by IMDb, the global cinema database.
