Andrea Occhipinti

Italian actor and producer Andrea Occhipinti is best known outside of Italy for his production work. He began acting in 1979 and appeared in dozens of films before he produced the award-winning festival favorite "Nasty Love" in 1995. Working with acclaimed director Pedro Almodovar, Occhipinti produced "Abre los ojos" starring Penelope Cruz (who would later also star in the English language version, "Vanilla Sky"). Switching to nonfiction, Occhipinti produced acclaimed French director Jacques Perrin's spectacular documentary "Winged Migration" in 2001. Returning to Spain, he produced the multiple-award-winning film "Mondays in the Sun " starring Javier Bardem. The next few years were extremely successful for Occhipinti. In 2008 he was nominated for a David di Donetello award for "Sonetàula," quickly followed by two more nominations in 2009 for "Il divo," about the Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti. That same year, he teamed with director Lars von Trier for the controversial "Antichrist," starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, and the Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated "The White Ribbon."