Sabina Guzzanti

Sabina Guzzanti
Sabina Guzzanti in 2008
Born	(1963-07-25) 25 July 1963 (age 53) Rome, Italy
Occupation	Satirist, Actress, Writer, Director, Producer
Parent(s)	Paolo Guzzanti (father)
Awards	European Film Awards - Best Documentary Award 2005 Viva Zapatero! (Nominated) Sundance Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize 2006 Viva Zapatero! (Nominated)
Website	http://www.sabinaguzzanti.it/

Sabina Guzzanti (born 25 July 1963) is an Italian satirist, actress, writer and producer whose work is devoted to examining social and political life in Italy.

Born in Rome as the eldest daughter of celebrated Italian political commentator and journalist Paolo Guzzanti (former senator of Forza Italia, incumbent deputy and deputy secretary for Italian liberal party), she graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts of Rome. Her first appearances on stage were at the side of her brother Corrado, a skilled comedian known for parody and imitation.

Guzzanti's career began when she took part in a series of successful television comedy formats such as Proffimamente... non stop (directed by Enzo Trapani), L'araba fenice (directed by Antonio Ricci), La TV delle ragazze and Scusate l'interruzione; her imitations of the famous Italian porn star Moana Pozzi gave her popularity, and the Italian film director Giuseppe Bertolucci recruited her to star in his film I Cammelli. Her career in this period was at its apex, as she starred in several films, toured Italian theatres with her own comedy shows (such as Con fervido zelo in 1991, and Non io: Sabina e le altre in 1994), and even held her one-woman show La posta del cuore. Her first attempt at directing is the 1998 short Donna selvaggia.

In November 2003 Sabina Guzzanti wrote, directed and was featured in the first and only installment of Raiot, a late-night TV political satire show broadcast on Rai Tre. After lampooning Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, she was sued by Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset lawyers (notably Cesare Previti's law firm) for "lies and insinuation" and the show was pulled amid controversy; in the suing document Previti defined satire as "that thing which tends to minimize and to make a politician likeable, to diminish the social tensions" ("quella cosa che tende a sdrammatizzare e a rendere simpatico un politico, a diminuire le tensioni sociali") as the basis to accuse the show of not being satirical but a direct political attack. As a form of protest, the second instalment was recorded live in the Auditorium of Rome and broadcast by independent television networks; during the event among others Dario Fo, Beppe Grillo and Daniele Luttazzi gave her their support. After that Sabina Guzzanti announced that the only official instalment of Raiot had completely vanished from the RAI's archives.