Monday July 13th, 2026 | 6:30 PM (doors open at 6 PM)
Italian Cultural Institute
710 Sansome Street, San Francisco
BRUNELLO: THE GRACIOUS VISIONARY
West Coast premiere
Directed by: Giuseppe Tornatore
Music by: Nicola Piovani
Docufilm, Italy, 2025, 127 min.
Starring: Brunello Cucinelli, Saul Nanni, Francesco Cannevale, Francesco Ferroni, Emma Fatone, Beatrice Carlani
In Italian with English Subtitles
The new documentary film Brunello: The Gracious Visionary, written and directed by Academy Award winner Giuseppe Tornatore with music by Academy Award winner Nicola Piovani, charts the life of Brunello Cucinelli, the humanist entrepreneur who brought together the worlds of work and philosophy.
Blending documentary and fiction, Brunello: The Gracious Visionary retraces the places and key moments of esteemed fashion entrepreneur Brunello Cucinelli’s existential journey: from his childhood in the countryside to the village of Solomeo, which he transformed into a symbol of humanistic capitalism.
Testimonies, archival footage, and personal memories reveal a man who, from humble beginnings, built a world-renowned company while staying true to the values of dignity, beauty, and social justice. The story concludes with the realization that dreams, when pursued with courage, are the true force guiding one’s destiny.
DIRECTORS NOTES
Brunello: the Gracious Visionary is not quite a documentary, nor a feature film, nor a commercial — but a blend of all three. The aim was to explore the life of Brunello Cucinelli through an interplay of contrasting forms: the classical documentary on one side, and on the other the staged narrative of a film that may, or may not, exist. These two strands overlap and merge in a bold, free-spirited experiment.
— Giuseppe Tornatore