Talpa sas is the film and television production company in which filmmaker Daniele Cini has been active since the late 1990s. The films produced by Talpa have ranged from documentaries to narrative films.

The main themes are linked to civic engagement (for example, the episodes of the anthology films Intolerance and All Human Rights for All, or the documentaries Seconda patria, Tanos and Noi che siamo ancora vive) and the personal stories of the subjects of our films, individuals who have known tragedy and suffering and now fight to give meaning to their difficult pasts, and turn them around.

When author and producer Claudia Pampinella joined Talpa, the company resumed this editorial focus, producing Bambini guerrieri (2014) for Rai Uno, which looked at children with blood cancers and their families staying with them at the Big House of Peter Pan in Rome, a residential facility whose success is made possible thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of 200 volunteers. The same documentary also spawned an international version entitled Little Warriors.  And Talpa also made the promotional video Una giornata con Peter Pan, celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the facility; it was screened before the Italian Parliament in October 2014.

In 2015 Talpa produced the documentary Fuori Controllo devoted to binge eating disorders; the film was presented at the Cascina Triulza on 16 July 2015, as part of Expo 2015 in Milan.

In 2015 the company also went back to producing nature documentaries. In 2016 three of its documentaries about Eastern Sicily will be airing on the program GEO (RAI 3): Sotto il VulcanoSiracusa, L’Isola nell’IsolaLe Terre di Montalbano.

Talpa’s films have been broadcast on RAI 1, RAI 3, SKY-FOX and cinemas as well. A number of them have been selected for and won awards at major film festivals (Venice, Cannes, the Italian Golden Globe Awards and the Silver Ribbon Awards), and have also been deemed culturally significant in Italy and abroad.


DANIELE CINI

He was born in Turin in 1955, and graduated from the Centro sperimentale di Cinematografia in 1978.
In the ‘80s he directed documentaries for the television programmes MIXER and QUARK as well as others airing on RAI 1, 2 and 3.
In the ‘90s he filmed news reports in Nicaragua, Colombia, China, Irak, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Peru, Algeria, the United States, Senegal and Germany.
In 1992, Cini started directed the mini-series ULTIMO MINUTO and MISTERI, and starting in 2000, the series LA SQUADRA.
His short film ARRIVANO I SANDALI screened at Venice in ’97 and Cannes in ‘98, as part of the anthology film Intolerance.
His short ZITTITUTTI was selected for the Turin Film Festival in 2001.
In the same year, Cini co-wrote (with Carlo Lucarelli) and directed the program BLU NOTTE (RAI 3).
In 2003 he made his feature directorial debut with the film LAST FOOD.
In 2004 he published his first book, IO, LA RIVOLUZIONE E IL BABBO (published by Voland).
In the same year, he directed and produced SECONDA PATRIA for the History Channel.
In recent years Cini has worked with TALPA Productions, directing and producing documentaries for the television programmes GEO & GEO (RAI 3) and LA STORIA SIAMO NOI (Rai Educational, featuring profiles of cultural icons such as Maria Callas, Luchino Visconti, Evita Peron, Gianni Morandi, Lucio Dalla, Francesco De Gregori and Giuseppe Verdi).
In 2008 he directed and produced the documentary TANOS for RAI 3 and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the episode LA SIRENA in the anthology film All Human Rights for All.
In 2009 Cini won the Italian Foreign Press Association’s Globo d’oro for Best Documentary for his NOI CHE SIAMO ANCORA VIVE, also a finalist for the Silver Ribbon Awards. In 2010 the film was released in Argentina and Chile and was deemed culturally significant in Argentina by INCAA.
In 2012 and 2013, he made documentaries for the programme CORREVA L’ANNO (RAI 3), including Uomini che hanno inventato il futuro (Adriano Olivetti and Steve Jobs), Fra emozioni e ribellioni (music in the 1970s), L’acciaio e la penna (Stalin and Trotsky), and I duellanti (Gates vs. Jobs)
In 2013 Cini directed and produced the documentary  Gli occhi delle dita for the Fondazione Valerio Zingarelli e Alessandro Kokochinsky.
In 2014 he directed and co-produced with Claudia Pampinella Little Warriors  (BAMBINI GUERRIERI), which aired on RAI 1 on 15 March 2014. In the same year he directed Out of Control (FUORI CONTROLLO), a documentary about binge eating disorders that was screened at the Expo 2015 in Milan on 15 July 2015.
In 2015 he directed the documentary Hungry and Foolish, produced by RAI EXPO. In late 2015 he directed and co-produced with Claudia Pampinella three documentaries for the program GEO that will be airing on RAI 3 in 2016.

 

CLAUDIA PAMPINELLA

claudia-pampinella-portraitShe graduated from the University of Venice with a degree in German Studies, and wrote her thesis on Arthur Schnitzler and the relationship between the stage and the screen in his works. She went on to obtain a Master’s degree in Arts Management from the Catholic University of Milan.

A journalist and public relations specialist, she rounded out her training with a screenwriting course, the VII Corso RAI-SCRIPT, and collaborated with the broadcaster ZDF.
Since 2000, Claudia Pampinella has been involved in producing films and documentaries. Among other titles, she produced the documentary Maiden Voyage, Women about the ship Amerigo Vespucci (52’) for OcramFilm in 2001; it was distributed internationally by GA&A Productions.
In 2005 she joined L’Altravista, a company made up of women who are audiovisual communications professionals with experience in film, television, and the visual and performing arts. For L’Altravista she served as producer, executive producer and director of development on, among other films:
IO, PRIMO CARNERA (52’) a documentary written by Flaminia Cardini and directed by Manuela Vigorita, 2006, The History Channel, Fox.
L’ISOLA DELLE ROSE (52’) a documentary directed by Rebecca Samonà, with the support of the UCEI (Unione Comunità Ebraiche Italiane), and Media EU Programme in 2008, The History Channel, and Fox.
LA POLITICA DEL DESIDERIO (75’) directed by Manuela Vigorita and Flaminia Cardini, selected for the 2010 International Rome Film Festival, in the Extra Section.
In 2013 she joined Daniele Cini’s Talpa Produzioni to produce Little Warriors (BAMBINI GUERRIERI) (52’), which aired on RAI 1 on 15 March 2014. In the same year, she wrote and executive produced Out of Control (FUORI CONTROLLO), a documentary about binge eating disorders that was screened at the EXPO 2015 in Milan.
In late 2015 she wrote and executive produced Sotto il vulcano, Siracusa: L’Isola nell’Isola, and Le Terre di Montalbano, three documentaries directed by Daniele Cini and set to air in 2016 on GEO (RAI 3).

Since 1993, Claudia Pampinella has alternated her career as a producer of documentaries with the organisation and management of art events and international festivals. From 2006 to 2011 she worked on six straight editions of the International Rome Film Festival as coordinator of the organisation and hospitality sector for international delegations, as well as the festival sections Cinema, Competition, Out-of-Competition and Extra.