Early life

After her father's death when she was 19, Mezzogiorno moved to Paris where she attended the stages by Arianne Mnouchkine and worked for two years at the Peter Brook Workshop. She made her stage debut with the role of Ofelia in Qui est là, based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The play toured various European cities. She received the Premio Coppola-Prati 1996, the jury was presided over by theatre critic Franco Quadri. One year later, she made her film debut in Il viaggio della sposa (The Bride's Journey), written by and starring Sergio Rubini. Mezzogiorno was awarded the Targa d'Argento as the New Talent in Italian Cinema, she was also given the Grolla d'oro, and the Globo d'Oro by the Foreign Press Association and the Premio Flaiano as Best Actress of the 1997 - 1998 season.

Career

In 1998 she starred in the film Del perduto amore directed by Michele Placido, with Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Sergio Rubini (she was awarded the Nastro d'Argento, the Ciak d'Oro and Premio Pasinetti as Best Actress in a starring role) and, for the Italian National Television Network, RaiDue, in a film made-for-TV Più leggero non basta (A lighter burden to bear) in the role of a young girl with muscular dystrophy, directed by Elisabetta Lodoli with Stefano Accorsi.

In 1999, she played the role of Silvia, daughter of Enzo Tortora by whose mistaken conviction the film was inspired. The film Un uomo perbene with Michele Placido and Mariangela Melato, was directed by Maurizio Zaccaro. In that same year, she worked in Asini, directed by Antonello Grimaldi, with celebrated Italian comedian Claudio Bisio.

In 2000, she travelled between Prague and Paris for work in the TV movie Les Miserables, directed by Josée Dayan, with Gérard Depardieu and John Malkovich. She worked in Denmark in Nobel, directed by Fabio Carpi, with Hector Alterio. In Italy she worked with Puglielli in Tutta la conoscenza del mondo (All There Is to Know), and then, L'Ultimo bacio (The Last Kiss) directed by Gabriele Muccino with Stefano Accorsi and Stefania Sandrelli (winning the Premio Flaiano). With the success of this last movie Giovanna become really famous in Italy.

In 2001, she worked in the film Malefemmene with Angela Molina and directed by Fabio Conversi, in the role of Francesca, who was imprisoned following a judicial error and came into contact with the reality of friendship and attachment which she had never imagined possible. She also worked on Stai con me, with Adriano Giannini and directed by Livia Giampalmo, in the role of a mother of twins.

In 2002, she worked on the set of Ilaria Alpi - Il più crudele dei giorni, in the role of the protagonist, directed by Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani (the film tells the tragic and dark story of the Italian TV journalist killed in Mogadiscio). She also starred in France in the Holocaust-period TV drama "Entrusted" (Il segreto di Thomas) (Daddy), directed by Giacomo Battiato, with Klaus Maria Brandauer, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Steven Moyer, based on Loup Duran's best-seller. In Italy she starred in the film "La finestra di fronte" ("facing windows") directed by Ferzan Ozpetek, costarring Massimo Girotti and Raoul Bova. This film, critically acclaimed and a box office success, earned her a lot of awards: the David di Donatello, the Ciak d’Oro, the Nastro d’Argento, the Globo d’Oro by the Foreign Press, the Flaiano Award, the Karlovy Vary Award as Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Lately, she starred in the film L’Amore ritorna, directed by Sergio Rubini, costarring Fabrizio Bentivoglio e Margherita Buy. She was also working in France, on the set of her first comedy: Au secours, j'ai 30 ans, directed by Marie-Anne Chazel, with Pierre Palmade.

Then, in 2004, Giovanna worked in the TV movie Virginia (La monaca di Monza), directed by Alberto Sironi. She then returned to the theatre, working with the director Piero Maccarinelli in 4.48 Psicosi, written by Sarah Kane.

In 2005 La Bestia Nel Cuore (Don't Tell), directed by Cristina Comencini, was an Academy Award candidate for Best Foreign Language Film and earned Giovanna one of the most important international prizes for an actress: the Coppa Volpi, previously won by Bette Davis, Shirley MacLaine, Gong Li, Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve and Sophia Loren.

Then in 2006, she acted in AD Project, a sci-fi thriller by Eros Puglielli and acted in "Lezioni di Volo" (Flying Lessons) by Francesca Archibugi.

In 2007, she became Leila, a sexy thief in an Italian black comedy: Notturno Bus (Night Bus), directed by Davide Marengo and starring Valerio Mastandrea and Ennio Fantastichini.

She travelled to Colombia to become Fermina Daza, the principal female character from Love in the Time of Cholera based on the book written by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez and directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral).

After two films shot in 2008, Sono Viva and Palermo Shooting by Wim Wenders, in 2009 she achieved great international success with Vincere by Marco Bellocchio, selected for the official competition in Cannes and a solid candidate for the final award.

She has voiced and produced a documentary to celebrate the career of her father Vittorio, 15 years after his sudden death in 1994.

She was a member of the jury at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival in May 2010. In January 2011, she was rewarded with the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress 2010 for her role in Vincere.

She has two sons, Leone and Zeno, born 26 August 2011.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	The Bride’s Journey	Porzia Colonna	Italian Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actress Flaiano Prize for Best Acrtess
1998	Of Lost Love	Liliana	Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress Golden Ciak for Best Actress Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Actress
1999	Più leggero non basta	Elena	TV movie
1999	Asini	Anna
1999	A Respectable Man	Silvia Tortora
2000	Les Misérables	Soeur Simplice	TV mini-series
2001	The Last Kiss	Giulia	Flaiano Prize for Best Acrtess Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Actress Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress Nominated—Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress
2001	Bad Women	Francesca
2001	Nobel	Eleonora
2001	Tutta la conoscenza del mondo	Giovanna
2002	The Cruelest Day	Ilaria Alpi	Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress
2003	Facing Windows	Giovanna	David di Donatello for Best Actress Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Golden Ciak for Best Actress
2003	Entrusted	Maria von Gall	TV movie
2004	Love Returns	Lena	Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actress
2004	Stay with Me	Chiara
2004	Il club delle promesse	Kathy
2004	Virginia, la monaca di Monza	Virginia Maria de Leyva	TV movie
2005	Les murs porteurs	Manou
2005	The Beast in the Heart (Don't tell)	Sabina	Volpi Cup for Best Actress Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Actress Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress
2006	AD Project	Gaia
2006	Flying Lessons	Chiara	Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Actress Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress
2007	Love in the Time of Cholera	Fermina Daza
2007	Night Bus	Leila Ronchi
2008	L'amore non basta	Martina
2008	Palermo Shooting	Flavia
2009	Vincere	Ida Dalser	Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Actress
2009	The Front Line	Susanna Ronconi	Nominated—Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress
2010	Sono viva	Stefania
2010	Basilicata Coast to Coast	Tropea Limongi
2013	Vinodentro	Adele
2014	The Dinner	Clara

[ Source: Wikipedia ]