Lorena Luciano – co-director, co-producer, editor

Lorena Luciano was born and raised in Italy, where she studied Law at the University of Milan before deciding to become a filmmaker. Based in New York City since 1996, where she collaborates as a TV producer with the US branch of RAI-Italian Public TV, Lorena had her first feature-length documentary Dario Fo and Franca Rame: A Nobel for Two screened at the Venice Film Festival in 1998. The film, distributed throughout the world in five continents, is a touching and colorful portrait of the life and genius of Dario Fo, one of the most complex personalities of international theater and literature, and actress Franca Rame, his wife and longtime collaborator..

Her following film Urbanscapes is a unique work of cinematic archeology that chronicles the dramatically changing topography of urban America. It was theatrically released in New York City in 2006, held over by popular demand, and has received rave reviews by movie critics from major U.S and European press.

Coal Rush, her third feature-length documentary, was selected in competition at the Academy Award qualifying 2012 Atlanta Film Festival.

Lorena is presently working on In the Middle, a documentary on the Italian journey of an African couple forced to flee Libya in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.