PH: Adriano Russo
Alessandro Sampaoli is an Italian actor and director whose career spans theatre, television, cinema and short film production. His training at Milan’s Quelli di Grock theatre school laid the foundations for a career that began on stage and later moved to television. He became widely known for playing Silvano Rogi in the sitcom Camera Café, one of Italy’s popular comedy series. His screen credits also include films directed by Pupi Avati, Carlo Mazzacurati and Luca Lucini.
Theatre has remained an important part of Alessandro’s professional experience. His stage credits include productions directed by Emma Dante, Serena Sinigaglia and Peter Stein, reflecting his work across different theatrical traditions. Alongside acting, he developed an interest in directing and storytelling from behind the camera.
In 2016, Alessandro directed Al posto suo, his first short film, under the supervision of director Silvio Soldini and cinematographer Luca Bigazzi as part of the OffiCine FilmLab programme in Milan. He continued with Home and Still Dance in 2017, before directing Pepitas in 2018. His subsequent work includes Carne and Vite, a documentary project exploring coming out, transgender experiences and same sex parenting.
Pepitas is an eight minute comedy written by Renata Ciaravino and Alessandro. It follows Andrea, played by Lino Guanciale, a man over thirty who lives with his mother and visually impaired grandmother. He has a part time job and secretly performs as a drag queen, but nobody in his family knows. When his grandmother decides to spend the evening with him on the night of his show, Andrea tries to prevent her from discovering this part of his life. Ariella Reggio also stars in the film.
Produced by IED Istituto Europeo di Design and Anteo, Pepitas was distributed by Prem1ere Film and formed part of the MINI Filmlab project by OffiCine and MINI. The film received several awards at the 2019 Cortinametraggio festival, including Best Comedy Short Film, the Rai Cinema Channel Award, the Augustus Color Award and the Audience Award.
In 2026, Pepitas was included in the Short Shorts from Europe Film Festival, presented by EUNIC Ireland, bringing the Italian short film to Dublin audiences. The festival programme featured films from nine European countries, offering an opportunity to encounter different approaches to contemporary European filmmaking.
Pepitas manages to tell a nuanced story in just a few minutes. Its characters are sketched with quick strokes yet remain well developed. Avoiding caricature and overacting, the film reveals a tender and profound dynamic through humour and gentle restraint, showing how mutual affection can overcome barriers and bring people closer together.
