​
​
I early start to see in documentaries a precious opportunity of expression and comprehension of myself and of the society that surrounds me. I 2008 I shoot Heroes and Heroines, a documentary on the street kids in Kathmandu, Nepal, that turns out to be a very strong human experience. While shooting this film, I get to know the East and I unexpectedly also discover my spiritual side that will take me back to Asia many times to study Thai massage and to practice the Vipassana meditation. With Heroes and Heroines I participate in numerous festivals and, in particular, I win the Italia.doc Award at Salina Doc Fest in 2011; meanwhile, I meet Laura D’Amore, a producer of social documentaries and a yoga teacher. With her I start a path of total sharing of cinema and life that will determine all my successive production.
In 2014 I direct and produce Memorie, in viaggio verso Auschwitz, where during a long journey by train I toughly confront myself with my brother on the untold within our family. This films wins the Avanti Award at the 32nd Torino Film Festival and it’s distributed in Italian movie theaters in October 2015 by Lab80 Film.
In 2016 I direct and produce with Laura D’Amore, who in the meanwhile becomes my wife, Vita Nova, which tells about our first attempt with the in-vitro fertilization. The film is presented at Festival dei Popoli and wins the SIAE Award at Salina Doc Fest 2017.
Since May 2017 I have been working at Nel mondo which, telling about our son Alessandro first year of life, represents the final chapter of a trilogy dedicated to family relationships.
​
ESSENTIAL FILMOGRAPHY
VITA NOVA by Danilo Monte and Laura D’Amore (80’-2017)
The in-vitro fertilization experience of Laura and Danilo, the directors.
A couple's journey in search of a life renewed by love.
Premiere at Festival dei Popoli in 2016, winner of the SIAE award at Salina Doc Fest in 2017 and the Best Documentary Film award at Festival di Lenola; it was also presented at the Annecy Italian Cinema.
Website: www.danilomonte.com/vitanova
​
MEMORIES, on the road to Auschwitz by Danilo Monte (74’-2015)
...a brother’s journey to look deeply into themselves.
Winner of the Avanti Award at 32nd Torino Film Festival and the Award “Best feature-lenght film” at the Festival of the mental health of Rome in 2015.
Website: www.danilomonte.com/memorie
​
HEROES AND HEROINES by Danilo Monte and Filippo Papini (50’-2010)
...a day with the street children of Kathmandu.
Presented at London Indipendent Documentary Festival in 2011 and Winner of the Italia.doc SalinaDocFest Award 2011.
YOUTUBE https://youtu.be/OEDeke3XYOY
AWARDS
-2014, Torino Film Festival: Award AVANTI! (Memorie - In Viaggio Verso Auschwitz)
-2017, Salina DOC Fest: Award SIAE SDF Youth Jury (Vita Nova) Editing Special Mention (Vita Nova)
-2017, Festival Internazionale di Lenola: Best documentary Award (Vita Nova)
-2015, Lo Spiraglio - Film Festival della Salute Mentale: Best feature-lenght film Award (Memorie - In Viaggio Verso Auschwitz)
-2015 Visioni Fuori Raccordo Film Festival: Special Mention (Memorie - In Viaggio Verso Auschwitz)
-2011, Salina Doc Fest: Italia.doc Award (Heroes and Heroines)
​
​
BIOGRAPHY
​
I was a teenager when my father gave me a video camera and, since that moment, I have never stopped looking at the world through it. Sometimes I imagine it as a prosthesis of my own body, as a protective filter or a magnifying glass of the experiences I live.
I have produced all my films creating, along the years, a personal work method and language (determined by the coexistence of an absolute freedom of expression).
At the end of the Nineties, while studying Cinema at the University, I start to develop a passion for the audio-visual field. It is the epoch when digital video and the internet are spreading: I am literally overwhelmed by a wave of political and social change that becomes fundamental to my education.
I become a video-activist inspired by the great master of the Italian experimental cinema Alberto Grifi, who I have the privilege to meet and who acts in my first short film, Komak (2000) movie about the world of rave that then develops a cult following.
In these years I participate in collective films, in groups of media activism in community centres, in live audio-visual performances, completely adhering to the “Do It Yourself” philosophy, learning how to produce, film and edit my works.