EUFORIA

Daughter of an Italian father and a Greek mother, Valeria Golino grew up between Athens and Naples. She started working in Athens as a model and was later discovered by the director Lina Wertmüller. She got her first leading role in 1985 with the film Little Flames and the following year she won the Coppa Volpi award at the Venice Film Festival with the film A Tale of Love by Francesco Maselli. She has been working on about twenty movies in the United States where she is best known for her performance in Rain Man (1988), The Indian Runner, and the comedy series Hot Shots! (1991) and Hot Shots! 2 (1993). In 2006, she won the David di Donatello Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Mario's War (2005) by Antonio Capuano. She won the Nastro d'Argento at the Taormina Film Festival as best actress in a leading role for Respiro (2002) by Emanuele Crialese. She has experimented with the world of music several times, lending her voice to four songs for as many films. In 2013, she made her directorial debut with the film Miele, starring Jasmine Trinca and dealing with the theme of euthanasia. The film, in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, earned a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury. This film also allowed her to win the Silver Ribbon for Best New Director and the Golden Globe for Best First Film. Her latest work, The Art of Joy, premiered in Cannes IFF in 2024.