Antonello Faretta was born in Potenza in 1973. He is a director, producer and photographer. He has worked with Abbas Kiarostami, Babak Payami, Marco Bellocchio, Saverio Costanzo, Giacomo Campiotti, Peter Del Monte and with Rai Sat, Arte and T9 TV channels.
His work includes Lei lo Sa, Da Dove Vengono le Storie?, Il Vento, la Terra, il Grasso sulle Mani, 20Venti, Silenced Thoughts, Nine Poems in Basilicata, Transiti and The Garden of Hope (Il Giardino della Speranza), all of which have been screened in numerous international festivals, museums and art galleries and have received important awards. In 2002 he founded Noeltan Film, an independent production company with which he produces all his works as well as those of young international filmmakers, including the full-length feature El Rey del Viento by the Uruguayan director Hector Di Lavello. In 2004 he founded – and has since directed – the Atelier del Cinema and the Potenza International Film Festival for which in 2006 he received the prestigious Targa per Meriti Culturali (an award for cultural merit) from Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic.
His latest work, The Garden of Hope will be presented in competition at Toronto’s Hot Docs, after being screened at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and winning the award for ‘best film’ at FrontDoc 2010.