Francesco Puglisi

Francesco Puglisi is an Italian actor, mainly known for playing the lead role of "Ivan" in the social short film In the Eyes of a Child (2023), produced by Sikania Network and sponsored by ACBS - Association Against School Bullying ODV, winner of the "Sorriso per il Lavoro e le Politiche Sociali" award at the "Festival Internazionale della Cinematografia Sociale Tulipani di Seta Nera" (Rome, 2023) and distributed by RaiPlay & Rai Cinema. For this performance, the actor won several awards (over half a dozen) at various International Film Festivals, including "Best Actor" at the "Festival di Cinema breve Via dei Corti" and again as "Best Actor" at the "Bright International Film Festival".

The actor's acting career began in 2019, when after participating in some film training campuses with several acting coaches, he was noticed by some Sicilian directors and later hired to act in some TV commercials and medium-length films for regional televisions, with small and secondary roles.

Toward the end of 2020, writer Angela Mori extends her Collection "La luna bugiarda e altri racconti" (2013), publishing a new version with the Novel "La Luna Bugiarda" (2021). At the same time, Catania-based director Marco Ferrara decides to make a film adaptation of the story, making a short film of the same name. Puglisi is selected with a lead role to play the superb antagonist "Ludovico." As the actor himself will tell during a speech at the "showing space" of the "Corti in Cortile Festival", this film represented for him the first opportunity to try his hand at the interpretation of 'a more complex character'.

In 2022, through FITA - Federazione Italiana Teatro Amatori (Italian Federation of Amateur Theatre), he is hired in the artistic cast of the "Compagnia Teatrale Il Belvedere", where he continues in the study of acting (also started years earlier with the likes of Ninni Bruschetta, Marco Tringali, Tony Sperandeo, Elizabeth Kinnear) and in the participation as an actor in several plays and theatrical comedies such as "il Ratto delle Sabine" by Franz and Paul von Schönthan or "Ti devi sposare?... Ci penso io!" by Nuccio Anastasi, demonstrating versatility.

Toward the end of 2022, on the occasion of the centenary of his death, a tribute to fellow citizen Giovanni Verga - historical writer and playwright - is planned in Sicily with the Theatrical Performance of "La Lupa" (with the collaboration of Elisa Laviano's "Centro Accademico Gli Artisti") directed by Gaetano Romano. Puglisi is chosen to play the primary dramatic role of young Nanni Lasca. With about half a thousand spectators, he performed in early 2023, earning an excellent reception with numerous appreciations and receiving open applause.

In 2023, through the FITA Sicily Committee, he was selected among theater actors for the ITAF - International Theater Academy of Fita International Project. During the same period, the Film Production Company Sikania Network, with the collaboration of the Association Against School Bullying, produces a social-drama film project based on a true story: a short film on issues such as poverty, marginalization, bullying and redemption. Francesco Puglisi gets the lead role in his adult version, in what is now the award-winning short film In the Eyes of a Child (2023).

The film - in addition to being awarded at the 25th edition of the "Inventa un Film" Festival and with Judgment of Praise/Honorable Mention at the "Cefalù Film Festival" as "Best Film Against Bullying" - was among the most watched and appreciated as part of the "Sorriso Rai Cinema Channel." After being screened in Rome at "The Space Cinema Moderno" - in an award ceremony involving the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies, "Etica Lavoro" and "Inail" - the film was distributed by the streaming platform RaiPlay and then in the same year was in Competition at the "David di Donatello" 2024. For his performance in this role, Francesco Puglisi counts more than half a dozen Recognitions between nominations and wins that have seen him as 'Best Actor,' 'Best Actor in a Leading Role,' and 'Best Artist.

During his speech at the "Together Against Bullying" event, Puglisi said it was 'the most introspective work he has ever done' because of the weight of the events experienced by the character, showing himself particularly happy in having been able to launch messages of awareness - on sensitive and current issues - through his portrayal of "Ivan." Later on, in fact, he himself will be the one to declare in an interview that he considers this experience an 'enhancement of his human and artistic background'.

Francesco Puglisi is subsequently chosen to be the lead actor in the short film "Il caso botanico dei gemelli La Rosa" made and presented by the THEREGISTI STUDIOS Film Production (by Adriano Spadaro and Samir Kharrat) for "ASFF 42hrs 2023." As part of the final stage of the 11th As Film Festival, in fact, the film was screened in the filled "Sala Cinecittà" of the House of Cinema in Rome.

Also in 2023, he was cast as the lead actor in The Winner - The Winner, Marco Ferrara's new social film that deals with the issues of oncological diseases, depression, and alcoholism. Puglisi plays the lead role of "Cris," a famous former soccer player.

(official distributor materials)