Medal of Valor 2025 to Brando De Sica
Brando De Sica has been awarded the Medal of Valor at the 2025 edition of the Ravenna Nightmare Film Festival. The Roman director has always been passionate about horror cinema. In a recent interview, he stated: “I like the genre. The first film I saw as a child was Dracula with Christopher Reeve,” and fittingly, his film Mimì – The Prince of Darkness also deals with vampires. “They’re symbolic,” he emphasizes, “we’re telling the story of a boy searching for his identity while being oppressed.”
Born and raised in Rome, De Sica had a brief stint as an actor before fully dedicating himself to directing. He studied at the USC – University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts, and upon returning to Italy, began directing commercials. He worked as assistant director to Pupi Avati on the film Una sconfinata giovinezza (2010). In 2015, he directed L’errore, a short film presented at the Cannes Film Festival. The short won the Nastro d’Argento for Best Direction, received a nomination for the David di Donatello, and won Best Advertising at Diane Pernet’s ASVOFF festival.
In 2019, he worked as sound designer on Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio, which was nominated for a David di Donatello and won the Nastro d’Argento for Best Sound. In 2021, he directed the campaign for the Michael Kors MKC x 007 capsule collection featuring Oscar-nominated actress Naomie Harris and top model Bella Hadid. In 2023, he directed his first feature film, Mimì – The Prince of Darkness, selected for the Locarno Film Festival. Described by the director as a “ballad of dreamers,” the film follows two misfits who try to create a world far from cynicism and violence.
