Floria Sigismondi

Infobox Person
name = Floria Sigismondi


image_size =
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birth_date = 1965
birth_place = Pescara, Pescara, Italy
death_date =
death_place =
education = Ontario College of Art
occupation = Photographer, director
spouse = Lillian Berlin
parents = Lina and Domenico Sigismondi
children = Tosca Vera Sigismondi-Berlin Floria Sigismondi (born 1965 in Pescara, Italy) is a Canadian-naturalized photographer and director.

Apart from her art exhibitions, she is best known for directing music videos for The Tea Party, Interpol, Incubus, Christina Aguilera, Muse, Billy Talent, The White Stripes, Sigur Rós, Sheryl Crow, The Cure, Björk, Amon Tobin, Marilyn Manson, Living Things and David Bowie and having directed some commercials for "Old Navy", "MAC", "Adidas" and "Eaton's". Her trademark dilating, jittery camerawork, noticeable as early as her video for Manson's "The Beautiful People", has been replicated by a great number of directors since.

Her life

Her parents, Lina and Domenico Sigismondi, were opera singers. Her family, including her sister Antonella, moved to Hamilton, Ontario, Canadacite web| title = Official web site: Floria Sigismondi| url=http://www.floriasigismondi.com/| accessdate = 2007-01-18] when she was two. In her childhood she became obsessed by drawing and painting. Later, from 1987 she studied painting and illustration at the Ontario College of Art, today's Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD). When she took a photography course, she became obsessed once more, and graduated with a photography major.

Floria Sigismondi started a career as a fashion photographer. She came to directing music videos when she was approached by the production company "The Revolver Film Co.", and directed music videos for a number of Canadian bands. Her very innovative, but also very disturbing video works, located in sceneries she once described as "entropic underworlds inhabited by tortured souls and omnipotent beings", attracted a number of very prominent musicians.

With her photography and sculpture installations she had solo exhibitions in Hamilton and Toronto, New York, Brescia, Italy, Göteborg, Sweden and London. Her photographs also were included in numerous group exhibitions, together with those of photographers like Cindy Sherman and Joel-Peter Witkin. The German art press Die Gestalten Verlag has published two monographs of her photography, "Redemption" (1999) and "Immune" (2005).

In October 2004 she gave birth to a daughter, Tosca Vera Sigismondi-Berlin. The father is her husband Living Things frontman Lillian Berlin. Sigismondi resides in Toronto, New York City, and Los Angeles. Her daughter is named after the Italian opera Tosca. Floria herself was named after the main character.

Floria makes an appearance in the 2008 feature documentary by Nik Sheehan about Brion Gysin and the Dreamachine entitled [http://www.flickerflicker.com 'FLicKeR'] .

Film Project

According with her official website Floria is currently working on her first feature film. She is both writing and directing this film, which is a coming of age story based on the '70s all girl rock n roll band, The Runaways.cite web| title = Official web site: Floria Sigismondi| url=http://www.floriasigismondi.com/| accessdate = 2007-11-04]

Film (selection)

* Neon Angels (2009)
* Postmortem Bliss (2006)

Music videos (selection)

*2006 "Broken Boy Soldier", The Raconteurs
*2006 "Hurt", Christina Aguilera
*2006 "Red Flag", Billy Talent
*2006 "Supermassive Black Hole", Muse
*2006 "Bombs Below (version 2)", Living Things
*2005 "O' Sailor", Fiona Apple
*2005 "Bom Bom Bom", Living Things
*2005 "Blue Orchid", The White Stripes
*2004 "The End of The World", The Cure
*2004 "Talk Shows on Mute", Incubus
*2004 "I Owe...", Living Things
*2004 "Megalomaniac", Incubus
*2003 "Fighter", Christina Aguilera
*2003 "Bombs Below (version 1)", Living Things
*2003 "Anything", Martina Topley Bird
*2003 "Obstacle 1", Interpol
*2003 "Untitled 1 (Vaka)", Sigur Rós
*2002 "John, 2/14", Shivaree
*2002 "She Said (version 2)", Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
*2002 "Black Amour", Barry Adamson
*2001 "In My Secret Life", Leonard Cohen
*2000 "4 Ton Mantis", Amon Tobin
*2000 "I've Seen It All" (interactive version), Björk
*1999 "Get Up", Amel Larrieux
*1998 "Can't Get Loose", Barry Adamson
*1998 "Most High", Robert Plant & Jimmy Page
*1998 "Sweet Surrender", Sarah McLachlan (uncredited)
*1998 "Anything But Down", Sheryl Crow
*1997 "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do", Filter & The Crystal Method
*1997 "Makes Me Wanna Die", Tricky
*1997 "Dead Man Walking", David Bowie
*1997 "Black Eye", Fluffy
*1996 "Little Wonder", David Bowie
*1996 "Tourniquet", Marilyn Manson
*1996 "Anna is a Speed Freak", Pure
*1996 "The Beautiful People", Marilyn Manson
*1996 "Four Leaf Clover", Catherine
*1995 "Blue", Harem Scarem
*1994 "The Birdman (version 1)", Our Lady Peace
*1993 "The River", The Tea Party
*1993 "Save Me", The Tea Party
*1993 "A Certain Slant of Light", The Tea Party

He has directed the Making the Video of "Fighter" in 2003.

Awards (selection)

*2004 Juno Awards, Canada - Best Music Video, for "Fighter" (Christina Aguilera)
*2003 MTV European Awards - Best International Video Award, for "Untitled" (Sigur Rós)
*2003 New York Underground Film Festival - Audio/Visual Award, for "Untitled" (Sigur Rós)
*2003 Advertising and Design Awards, Toronto, Canada - Special Merit Award for Music Video, for "Fighter" (Christina Aguilera)
*1999 German Kodak Photobook Award, for her book "Redemption"
*1998 British Music Video Awards, UK - Nomination for Best Video: "Little Wonder" (David Bowie)
*1997 MTV Music Video Awards, USA - Nomination for Best Rock Video: "Beautiful People" (Marilyn Manson)

References

*cite book | author=Sigismondi, Floria | title=Redemption | publisher=Gestalten Verlag | year=1999 | id=ISBN 3-931126-18-8
*cite book | author=Sigismondi, Floria | title=Immune | publisher=Gestalten Verlag | year=2005 | id=ISBN 3-89955-069-2

External links

* [http://www.floriasigismondi.com/ Official website]
*imdb name|id=0797455|name=Floria Sigismondi
* [http://revolutionart.publicistas.org/ Interview in Revolutionart International Magazine 4]
* [http://www.videology-tv.com/viewclip.php?id=38#info The Raconteurs' video for 'Broken Boy Soldier' + interview with director Floria Sigismondi.]
* [http://www.coolhunting.com/video/archives/2006/03/fiora_sigismondi_1.php CoolHunting.com Video Interview]
* [http://www.hermes.com/behindthescenes/indextcm.html A Short Film directed by Floria also with a brief interview]
* [http://http://www.believemedia.com/director.php?director_id=32/ Commercials, select music videos and a biography at Believe Media]
* [http://www.flickerflicker.com/ Official site for the feature documentary 'FLicKeR']