Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi

Valeria Carla Federica Bruni Tedeschi, also written Bruni-Tedeschi (Italian pronunciation: [vaˈlɛːrja ˈbruːni teˈdeski]; born 16 November 1964), is an Italian and French actress and filmmaker. Her 2013 film, A Castle in Italy, was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Bruni Tedeschi was born in Turin, Italy, in the Piedmont region of Italy, the daughter of Marisa Borini and Alberto Bruni Tedeschi. Like her younger sister, Carla Bruni, she has settled in France. The girls were raised bilingually, as their family moved to Paris in 1973, fearing kidnappings and, later, the terrorism of the Red Brigades.

Bruni Tedeschi trained in drama at Jean Darel and the American Center with Blanche Salant before joining Patrice Chéreau’s École des Amandiers in Nanterre in the early 1980s. She made her television debut in 1983 in Paolina, la juste cause et la bonne raison, and the same year appeared on stage in Platonov, directed by Chéreau. Her first significant film role came in Hôtel de France (1987), also directed by Chéreau.

Over the following decades, Tedeschi became known for a body of work spanning over 85 films, television productions, and stage performances. She won the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 1994 for her role in Les gens normaux n'ont rien d'exceptionnel (1993). She has frequently collaborated with filmmaker Noémie Lvovsky, appearing in more than ten of her works since 1990.

Her performances include roles in La Reine Margot (1994), Nénette et Boni (1996), Ceux qui m’aiment prendront le train (1998), and La parola amore esiste (1998). In Italian cinema, she has worked with directors such as Marco Bellocchio, Mimmo Calopresti, and Gabriele Muccino. Her later notable roles include 5×2 (2004), A Castle in Italy (Un château en Italie, 2013), which was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and Les Estivants (2018). In 2014, she won the Best Actress award at the Tribeca Film Festival for her performance in Paolo Virzì’s Human Capital (Il capitale umano).

Tedeschi's debut film as a director, It's Easier for a Camel..., earned her two awards at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2003, for Emerging Narrative Filmmaker and Best Actress. The film was also awarded the Louis Delluc Prize for Best First Film in 2003, and won an award at the Ankara Flying Broom Women's Film Festival in 2004. It was entered into the 25th Moscow International Film Festival.

Tedeschi holds Italian nationality and acquired French nationality by naturalization on 31 July 2006. Her mother is Italian with French ancestry. Her father is Italian. She is a second cousin of Alessandra Martines. Tedeschi had a relationship with the French actor Louis Garrel from 2007 to 2012. Together they adopted a girl from Senegal in 2009. As of 2022, Bruni Tedeschi was in a relationship with French actor Sofiane Bennacer.