Nancy Schiesari is a renowned filmmaker who has spent over half of her life working as an artist, cinematographer, and teacher.
Her interest in the Italian Resistance has been life-long, beginning as a child, growing up listening to her parent’s stories. As a first generation American, she was born into a “twilight zone” between her parents’ tumultuous Italian past and the American culture of the late 1950’s; and raised in a family of immigrants whose lives were defined by WW II.
Her three aunts were partisans in the hills of Tuscany where they fought the German Nazis and Italian Fascists. Her father, a young doctor, was drafted into the Italian Army to minister to the wounded on the Yugoslavian and Albanian fronts. When Mussolini was overthrown, he refused to fight on the Axis side and spent the last two years of the war in a German concentration camp with Russian and Italian P.O.W.'s.
In June 2000, Ms Schiesari began interviewing participants on both sides of the Atlantic concentrating on episodes where there had been collaboration between the OSS and partisans on specific missions. This website and the film clips it contains are the result of six years of dedication to making this project a reality.
Ms. Schiesari resides in Austin, Texas producing and directing films while teaching Film Production as an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
She has served as Director of Photography on over 30 documentaries and features, including the Academy Award© nominated documentary Regret To Inform; the 35mm feature Partition; and the award winning Channel Four documentary Warrior Marks produced by Alice Walker. In 2002, Ms. Schiesari was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for her work on The Human Face television series produced by John Cleese.
Ms. Schiesari produced and directed the one-hour documentary Green Flutes for Channel Four in England. Green Flutes addresses issues of class and religious sectarianism through the experience of an Irish flute band traveling from the slums of Glasgow to Belfast and playing music in support of the Irish nationalist cause. She also produced and directed a one-hour documentary Hansel Mieth-Vagabond Photographer which aired on the PBS series Independent Lens. Hansel Mieth-Vagabond Photographer focuses on the heartbreaking life and haunting art of Life Magazine photographer, Hansel Mieth.
Her interest in the Italian Resistance has been life-long, beginning as a child, growing up listening to her parent’s stories. As a first generation American, she was born into a “twilight zone” between her parents’ tumultuous Italian past and the American culture of the late 1950’s; and raised in a family of immigrants whose lives were defined by WW II.
Her three aunts were partisans in the hills of Tuscany where they fought the German Nazis and Italian Fascists. Her father, a young doctor, was drafted into the Italian Army to minister to the wounded on the Yugoslavian and Albanian fronts. When Mussolini was overthrown, he refused to fight on the Axis side and spent the last two years of the war in a German concentration camp with Russian and Italian P.O.W.'s.
In June 2000, Ms Schiesari began interviewing participants on both sides of the Atlantic concentrating on episodes where there had been collaboration between the OSS and partisans on specific missions. This website and the film clips it contains are the result of six years of dedication to making this project a reality.
Ms. Schiesari resides in Austin, Texas producing and directing films while teaching Film Production as an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
She has served as Director of Photography on over 30 documentaries and features, including the Academy Award© nominated documentary Regret To Inform; the 35mm feature Partition; and the award winning Channel Four documentary Warrior Marks produced by Alice Walker. In 2002, Ms. Schiesari was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for her work on The Human Face television series produced by John Cleese.
Ms. Schiesari produced and directed the one-hour documentary Green Flutes for Channel Four in England. Green Flutes addresses issues of class and religious sectarianism through the experience of an Irish flute band traveling from the slums of Glasgow to Belfast and playing music in support of the Irish nationalist cause. She also produced and directed a one-hour documentary Hansel Mieth-Vagabond Photographer which aired on the PBS series Independent Lens. Hansel Mieth-Vagabond Photographer focuses on the heartbreaking life and haunting art of Life Magazine photographer, Hansel Mieth.
