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| David di Donatello Awards | |
|---|---|
| Current:70th David di Donatello | |
 A David di Donatello awarded in 2014 | |
| Awarded for | The best of Italian and foreign motion picture productions |
| Date | 1955; 70 years ago (1955) |
| Country | Italy |
| Presented by | Academy of Italian Cinema |
| First award | 5 June 1956 |
| Website | www |
TheDavid di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello'sDavid, a symbolic statue of theItalian Renaissance,[1] are film awards given out each year by theAccademia del Cinema Italiano (the Academy of Italian Cinema).[2] There are 26 award categories, as of 2023. The industry-voted awards are considered the Italian equivalent of the AmericanAcademy Awards.[3]
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The David di Donatello film awards were founded in 1955 by the founding president of AGIS (Italian General Association for Show Business), businessmanItalo Gemini, in order to honour the best of each year's Italian and foreign films. It was first awarded in Rome on 5 July 1956.[4]
The David di Donatello film awards follow the same criteria as the AmericanAcademy Awards.[3]
Similar prizes had already existed in Italy for about a decade, such as theNastro d'Argento, but these were voted on byfilm critics and journalists. The Donatellos are awarded by people within the film industry, including actors, producers, directors, screenwriters, and technicians.[5]
After Rome, from 1957 to 1980, the ceremony was held at the Greek Theatre in Taormina duringTaormina Film Fest, then twice in Florence, finally returning to Rome, always with the support of thePresident of the Italian Republic and now with the collaboration of theRome City Council cultural policies department.[6]
The founding organization, now called theAccademia del Cinema Italiano, works in concert with and thanks to the contribution of the ItalianMinistry of Culture and Ministry of Tourism.[6]
The prizes are awarded primarily to Italian films, with a category dedicated to foreign-language films.
The following is a list of presidents of theAcademy of Italian Cinema:[6]
| President | Start | End | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italo Gemini | 1955 | 1970 | |
| Eitel Monaco | 1971 | 1977 | |
| Paolo Grassi | 1978 | 1980 | |
| Gian Luigi Rondi | 1981 | 2016† | President for life since 2009 |
| Giuliano Montaldo | 2016 | 2017 | Interim |
| Piera Detassis[7] | 2018 | current | First woman to hold the office |
†Died in office.
The David di Donatello trophy is in the form of a goldDavid statuette, a replica of Donatello's famous sculpture, on a square malachite base with a gold plaque recording the award category, year, and winner.[5]
The 1956David byBulgari, awarded toGina Lollobrigida forBeautiful but Dangerous, was auctioned atSotheby's in 2013.[8]
As of 2025, with seven awards each,Margherita Buy,Alberto Sordi,Vittorio Gassman, andSophia Loren are the actors who have won the most Davids.[9][10]
| Actor | Leading | Supporting | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | N | W | N | W | N | |
| Margherita Buy | 5 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| Alberto Sordi | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Vittorio Gassman | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Sophia Loren | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Elio Germano | 5 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 11 |
| Giancarlo Giannini | 4 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Valeria Bruni Tedeschi | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| Marcello Mastroianni | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Monica Vitti | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Marina Confalone | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Valerio Mastandrea | 2 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
| Toni Servillo | 4 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 12 | |
| Mariangela Melato | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| Nino Manfredi | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
Tra gli attori più premiati di sempre troneggiano Alberto Sordi e Vittorio Gassman, entrambi a quota 7 David, vinti sempre come migliori attori protagonisti. La Meryl Streep del Cinema italiano è invece Margherita Buy, che ne ha vinti altrettanti (su 16 candidature)
