Skip to main content

Actor Nando Irene - Basilicata Born and Bred


If you were only to know Nando Irene on social media, you would come to know the three leading forces in his life- his family, his land and his work. He comes from the southern region of Basilicata. Born in Matera, he was raised in the nearby town of Salandra, a beautiful landscape bordered by the region’s signature calanchi mountains and olive groves as far as the eye can see. When he talks about Basilicata, he recounts the past when it was referred to as Italy’s shame and how it has grown through the years to become a major tourist attraction and film set for countless movies including Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and more recently Ben Hur and Wonder Woman

Irene approaches his craft with the same passion and enthusiasm he has for his land. When he decided to pursue acting as a career, he picked up and moved to Rome. He stayed for nine years, taking numerous courses and making contacts in the industry. It was during those years that he landed his first jobs in cinema and television: Fabrizio Cattani’s 2004 Il Rabdomante, the story of a Pugliese peasant who fights a land owner for the right to water, and the 2005 Mediaset fiction series, Il giudice MastrangeloLonging for his adored Lucania, he returned home in 2009 and continued acting in the three mediums: theater, television and cinema. Since so much cinema is made in Basilicata, he has appeared in numerous films, many of which have been shown at film festivals throughout the world. Among them is the short film Giallo in which Irene stars alongside fellow Materese actor Enzo Saponara. The film offers 20-minutes of full-immersion into the mystic world of Matera’s culture and land. Set mostly in the infamous ghost town of Craco, the film consists of a simple story: a man trying to help his younger brother come out of a depression. It is a story interpreted by two fine actors amid breathtaking views of vast mountain ranges seen from an ancient uninhabited city. 

A scene from Giallo
In addition to Irene’s prolific acting career, he has turned his passion for his land into a parallel career as a restaurateur. Vicolo Cieco Salsamenteria is a hip restaurant/bar located in Matera’s ancient center, which specializes in locally cultivated products and wine. The restaurant is decorated in 1950s style Americana with retro couches and kitchen sets along with a jukebox that plays classic American hits from the 50s and 60s. That's where I met him for a great conversation about his work and his beloved region of Basilicata. In addressing the cinema that was made in the region decades ago, in particular Francesco Rosi’s 1960 Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (Christ Stopped at Eboli), Irene address the stigma left on the region by those accounts of such desperate times. 



"About Carlo Levi.. I remember this beautiful film with Gian Maria Volontè who per me is a great example of an actor and someone that I want to emulate, although I can't imagine every being as great as him. Christ Stopped at Eboli.. My subtitle would be "meno male." It's a good thing Christ stopped at Eboli because up to Eboli, the factories are disappearing, there is no work, there is Camorra (mafia) that is polluting the land. But once you pass into Basilicata, it's like a happy island. We are few inhabitants.. maybe 100,000. We can go skiing in the mountains, we can go to the sea. On one side of the region, there is white sand and on the other side in Maratea there is the gorgeous rocca frasgliata (jagged rock formations) along the coastline. In the winter, you can go to Pollino to ski. We have the desert where they've also shot Westerns. You can do anything here. We are the heart of southern Italy. It was abandoned for many years, and now it's being reborn as a land to explore and discover, a land of nature, of good food and clean air. So, come to Basilicata!"



Gian Maria Volonté in Cristo si è fermato a Eboli

Irene’s next cinema project is currently in pre-production. Directed by fellow lucano Nicola Telesca, Rumore is a love story set in the shadow of the sensitive environmental situation concerning the petroleum extractions in Basilicata. The film will feature a cast of Italy’s great contemporary actors, including Antonio Andrisani, Antonio Gerardi, Valeria Solarino and Pascal Zullino.

Click here to watch the short film Giallo on Vimeo. For more information on Vicolo Cieco Salsamenteria, follow the restaurant’s page on Facebook and click here to follow Nando Irene on Facebook. 

-Jeannine Guilyard

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Anna Foglietta: Actress and Activist with Old School Elegance

One look at actress Anna Foglietta in her any of her roles, and the Golden Age of Italian cinema comes to mind. Among Italy’s most sought-after actresses today, Foglietta brings to the table a classic eloquence of yesterday while representing Italy’s modern woman. Born in Rome in 1979, Foglietta began her career in 2005 with a role in the RAI television series La squadra . Her character Agent Anna De Luca had a two-year run on the series as she was transitioning to cinema with Paolo Virzì’s 2006 ensemble project 4-4-2- Il gioco più bello del mondo . Since then, she has become one of Italy’s most diverse actresses, transforming herself into interesting, layered characters for comedies and dramas alike. Aside from a small part in Anton Corbijn’s 2010 film The American starring George Clooney, Foglietta’s work began reaching mainstream American audiences in 2015. As Elisa in Edoardo Leo’s 2015 comedy Noi e la Giulia , Foglietta showed her funny side playing a goofball pregn

The Life and Work of Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci as Malèna Born in Umbria in 1964, Monica Bellucci is one of the most recognizable faces of international cinema. But she didn't always have her sights set on the spotlight. She went to college to study law and modeled to pay her tuition. Her success in the fashion world coupled with the offers that were pouring in to appear on the big screen eventually took over, changing her fate. Bellucci made her on-screen debut in the 1990 television movie, " Vita coi figli." Just two years later, she scored her first American role in Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula."   In addition to her native language, she speaks fluent English and French, which has made for a smooth transition from Italian to international cinema. Stateside, she has acted in blockbusters such as "The Matrix-Reloaded,"     " The Passion of the Christ" and " The Sorcerer's Apprentice." She has also appeared in several French films, a

Pasolini's Playground of Roman Ruins

Anna Magnani in a scene from "Mamma Roma" Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1962 “Mamma Roma” starring Anna Magnani , follows the title character, a Roman prostitute determined to change her life and give her son the opportunities she never had. She seizes the opportunity to leave her life on the streets behind when her pimp (Franco Citti) gets married and frees her from his possession. Mamma then goes to the small provincial town of Guidonia to fetch her son, Ettore (Ettore Garofolo), and bring him to Rome to embark on their new life together. She buys a pushcart, finds an apartment in a nice neighborhood, and uses her connections to secure him a job in a restaurant. However, Ettore gets mixed up with boys who are petty thieves and is negatively influenced by them. At the same time, Mamma Roma’s pimp resurfaces and sends her back to the streets. When Ettore learns about his mother’s prostitution, he goes astray and wholeheartedly joins in on the petty crimes of the boys. One day, while

Stefano Natale- the Charismatic Muse behind Carlo Verdone's Iconic Characters

The beauty of Italian cinema lies in the diversity of its genres and styles. Although the ’80s have received its share of criticism for its less-than-profound output, it was the decade in which contemporary maestro Carlo Verdone emerged as a creative young director and actor. The characters he brought to life during those years became permanent fixtures in Roman pop culture. Films like “Un sacco bello,” “Bianco, rosso e Verdone,” and “Borotalco” gave birth to the iconic Mimmo, Leo and Sora Lella.   Enter Stefano Natale, the real-life muse behind Leo and Mimmo. Natale was the subject of a documentary presented at the 2015 Festa del Cinema in Rome. One of four protagonists in Luca Ferrari’s “Showbiz,” he is a soft-spoken gentle giant who recalls his life with Verdone and the creation of his characters in a nostalgic, affectionate manner. “Verdone and I grew up together in the same building near Ponte Sisto,” Natale recalls. “Our grandmothers were cousins, and for 30 years we saw each o

Nicoletta Braschi and Roberto Benigni.. What cinema dreams are made of

The Toronto International Film Festival is wrapping up its retrospective of the cinematic collaboration of husband and wife team, Nicoletta Braschi and Roberto Benigni. Over the last few days, the couple have participated in discussions, Q & A sessions and have introduced several of their films. Today, I attended a screening of "La voce della luna" (The voice of the moon). It was  Federico Fellini's last film and is a wonderful tribute to the director's signature poetic madness. The film gave Benigni the opportunity to team up with fellow beloved comic, Paolo Villaggio, and the two created a truly unforgettable adventure. Today's screening began with an introduction by Benigni. The moments leading up to his introduction were noticeably serious and somewhat tense. Benigni's publicist and TIFF security staunchly guarded his privacy. There was no interaction and no photos were allowed. Guided by his entourage, he walked quickly from the Green Room to th