Marina Cicogna

Marina Cicogna
Born	(1934-05-29)29 May 1934 Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Died	4 November 2023(2023-11-04) (aged 89) Rome
Occupation(s)	Producer, photographer

Contessa Marina Cicogna (May 29, 1934 – November 4, 2023) was an Italian film producer and photographer. She produced the film Belle de Jour, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1967.

Early life and education

Cicogna was born in 1934 in Rome, and grew up in Milan, Venice, and Cortina. She was the daughter of a banker, and her grandfather was Giuseppe Volpi, an influential figure in Italy's history; one of the country's richest men, he held many government posts and founded the Venice Film Festival.

Cicogna attended Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York, staying less than a year. While there, she befriended the daughter of Jack L. Warner; this connection facilitated Cicogna's introduction to other actors in Hollywood. She studied photography at another school in the United States, and took pictures of Hollywood friends, including Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo. The black and white photographs were later published in a book.

Career

Film

At the age of 32, Cicogna decided to pursue a career in the film industry. Her mother bought a share in a film distribution company, and Cicogna suggested films for the business to purchase. She distributed the West German film Helga, which she describes as the first time a birth was shown on screen. She publicized it by placing "ambulances at the exit of the film, saying that people would faint when they saw that".

The New York Times describes her as "the first major female Italian film producer" and "one of the most powerful women in European cinema". One of her film's, Belle de Jour, won the Golden Lion at the 1967 Venice Film Festival. She also produced such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, and Brother Sun, Sister Moon.

Photography

Her interest in photography led to the publication of two books, one of them displaying images of her family's 18th-century home in Tripoli.

Other roles and activities

As of 2023 she is a vice-president on the board of the Ischia Global Film & Music Festival, an international film festival held on the Italian island of Ischia..

Personal life

For 20 years her life partner was the actress Florinda Bolkan.

External links

• Marina Cicogna at IMDb