Gianfranco Rosi (director)  Gianfranco Rosi (born 30 November 1963) is an Italian director, cinematographer, producer and screenwriter. His film "Sacro GRA" won Golden Lion at 70th Venice International Film Festival. "Sacro GRA" is the first documentary film to win Golden Lion in history of the Venice film festival and the first Italian film to win in fifteen years, after Gianni Amelio's "The Way We Laughed" won the award in 1998. His 2016 film "Fire at Sea", a documentary focused on European migrant crisis on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, won the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. Rosi is the only documentary filmmaker to win two top prizes at major European film festivals (Cannes, Berlin and Venice) and is currently the only filmmaker besides Michael Haneke, Jafar Panahi, Ang Lee, and Ken Loach to win two top European festival prizes in the 21st century. Rosi was born in November 1963 in Asmara, Eritrea, during the Eritrean War of Independence. At just 12 years old, he was carried to safety in Italy in a military plane, leaving his parents in Eritrea. After living as a youth in Rome and Istanbul, at 19 Rosi moved to New York City to attend the New York University Film School. He made his film debut with "Boatman", which was screened at various international film festivals, including Sundance Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. His film "Below Sea Level" won the Orizzonti Doc Award at the 65th Venice International Film Festival. At the 70th Venice International Film Festival his film "Sacro GRA" won the Golden Lion award.