| David di Donatello Awards | |
|---|---|
| Current: 66th David di Donatello Awards | |
A David di Donatello awarded in 2014 | |
| Awarded for | The best of Italian and foreign motion picture productions |
| Date | 1955 |
| Country | Italy |
| Presented by | Academy of Italian Cinema |
| First awarded | 5 June 1956 |
| Website | www |
The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's David, a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance,[1] are film awards given out each year by the Accademia del Cinema Italiano (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award categories as of 2021.
It is the Italian equivalent to the American Academy Awards and ranks among top-tier awards such as the "Premio Regia Televisiva" for television, the "Premio Ubu" for stage performances, the Sanremo Music Festival for music, and the annual Venice Film Festival.
Following the same criteria as the Academy Awards, the David di Donatello Awards (known by the moniker "Donatellos"[2]) were established in 1955 and first awarded in Rome on 5 July 1956.[3] Created by a cultural club (then called "The Open Gate"), the aim was to honour the best of each year's Italian and foreign films.
Similar prizes had already existed in Italy for about a decade (for example, the "Silver Ribbons"), but these were voted for by film critics and journalists. However, the Donatellos are awarded by people within the industry: screenwriters, performers, technicians, producers, and so on.
After Rome, from 1957 to 1980, the ceremonies were held at the Greek Theatre in Taormina during Taormina Film Fest, then twice in Florence, and finally returned to Rome, always with the support of the President of the Republic and now with the collaboration of the Rome City Council Cultural Policies Department. During the years the ceremony was held in Taormina during the 1950s, it was organized by journalist and film producer Michael Stern, who later went on to found The Michael Stern Parkinson's Research Foundation in New York City.
The founding organization, now called the Accademia del Cinema Italiano, works in concert with and thanks to the contribution of the Italian Ministry of the Performing Arts and the Ministry for Cultural Properties and Activities.
The presidents have successively been Italo Gemini (founder), Eitel Monaco, Paolo Grassi, Gian Luigi Rondi, Giuliano Montaldo, and currently, Piera Detassis.
The prizes are awarded primarily to Italian films, with a category dedicated to foreign-language films.
Here is a list of presidents of the Academy of Italian Cinema:
| President | Start | End | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italo Gemini | 1955 | 1970 | |
| Eitel Monaco | 1971 | 1977 | |
| Paolo Grassi | 1978 | 1980 | |
| Gian Luigi Rondi | 1981 | 2016† | President for life since 2009 |
| Giuliano Montaldo | 2016 | 2017 | Interim |
| Piera Detassis | 2018 | current | First female to hold the office |
† Died in office.
The trophy is in the form of a gold David statuette replica of Donatello's famous sculpture, on a square malachite base with a gold plaque recording the award category, year, and winner.
The 1956 David by Bulgari, awarded to Gina Lollobrigida for Beautiful but Dangerous, was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2013.[4]
As of 2020, with seven awards each, Margherita Buy, Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, and Sophia Loren are the actors who have won the most Davids.[5][6]
| Actor | Leading | Supporting | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | N | W | N | W | N | |
| Margherita Buy | 5 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 16 |
| Alberto Sordi | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Vittorio Gassman | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Sophia Loren | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Giancarlo Giannini | 4 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Marcello Mastroianni | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Monica Vitti | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Marina Confalone | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Valerio Mastandrea | 2 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
| Toni Servillo | 4 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| Elio Germano | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| Valeria Bruni Tedeschi | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Mariangela Melato | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| Nino Manfredi | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
