Cristiano BORTONE

After attending USC (University of Southern California), in 1991 Bortone graduated from New York University in Film and television with an award for special achievements.

In 1998 he founded the Italian production company Orisa Produzioni and in 2015 the Chinese production company Yiyi Pictures. His activity as a producer includes features, documentaries and television programs both in the art house and commercial areas. Among them "Maria, ihm schmeckt’s nicht!" (2009) that topped German box office with more than 1,5mln admissions and "Marina" directed by Oscar nominated Stijn Coninx and co-produced with the Dardenne brothers which became one of the 10 highest box offices of all times in the Flanders. Bortone was nominated as "Best producer" in 2006 at the Nastri d’Argento and in 2017 at the David di Donatello Italian film award.

As director, he directed 5 feature films. Among them "Red like the sky", which won a David di Donatello Italian film award in 2007 and participated in more than 25 other international festivals. His last film "Coffee" (Caffe) is the first official co-production between China and Italy and premiered as Special event at Venice days 2017.

Bortone worked as screenwriter and script editor on several productions, co-authored the manual "How to make a short" and taught directing, screenwriting and producing at several international institutions including the Beijing Film Academy.

He has been a consultant of the MEDIA programme. He is a member of ACE and co-founder and managing director of the Sino-European producers’ association Bridging the dragon.