About us
Quoiat Films is a production company founded in 2015 and is the result of the vision of two audiovisual professionals, Federica Paniccia and Francesco Zippel.
The activity of Quoiat Films is mainly focused on the creation and production of films, documentary series and podcasts.
All Quoiat Films’ projects have a a common denominator: the internationality of the stories, which never conflicts with the authentic, and not fictional, approach of the narration.
Quoiat Films collaborates with various Italian and international platforms, broadcasters, and publishing companies including Sky, Nbc Universal, Fox, Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Rai, La7, Treccani. It produced for Paramount Pictures the behind-the-scenes documentary for the film Ben Hur - A Tale of the Christ (2016) and some backstage videos for the film Zoolander 2 (2016). Then Quoiat Films developed and produced, for the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, the web series dedicated to Unesco sites and Italian intangible heritage Patrimoni - L'Italia dell'Unesco (2016 - 2021). Quoiat Films has been in charge of the executive production of William Friedkin's film The Devil and Father Amorth, and has produced the documentary Friedkin Uncut (2018), winner of the Nastro d'Argento as Best Cinema Documentary of the year and finalist at the David di Donatello Awards. Both films had their world premieres at the Venice Film Festival and have been sold worldwide.
In 2020 Quoiat Films produced Fantastic Mr Fellini – Interview with Wes Anderson, a tribute to Federico Fellini made together with Wes Anderson on the centenary of the birth of the Rimini-born master. In 2021 Quoiat Films produced Oscar Micheaux - The Superhero of Black Filmmaking, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Nastro d’Argento.
In 2022 Quoiat Films then produced two documentary films: Rosa - The Gospel of the Sirens (2022), about the Sicilian storyteller Rosa Balistreri, which marked the directorial debut of Isabella Ragonese, selected at the Turin Film Festival and winner of many national and international festivals, and Borromini and Bernini – The Challenge for Perfection (2023) which reached the third place at the box office in its theatrical release period.
In 2022 Quoiat Films oversaw the executive production of the documentary Sergio Leone – The Italian who Invented America, which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and won the Nastro d'argento as Best Cinema Documentary of the year in 2023, before being presented in its director's cut version at the Locarno Film Festival 2023.
Still the same year, Quoiat Films produced Michelangelo - Saint or Sinner, a documentary that explores the contrasting aspects of the great Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti.
In 2024, Quoiat Films presented Volonté – A Man with a Thousand Faces, a documentary that explores the extraordinary career and complexity of actor Gian Maria Volonté, one of the most iconic faces of Italian cinema, which had its world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. In 2024 Quoiat Films produced Duse – The Greatest, a documentary dedicated to the iconic Italian stage actress Eleonora Duse, directed by the actress Sonia Bergamasco, marking her directorial debut. This film had its world premiere at the 19th edition of the Rome Film Festival, paying tribute to the legendary artist on the centenary of her passing.
Founders
Federica Paniccia
Federica Paniccia is a film producer.
Her first feature doc produced, S is for Stanley (2016), won the David di Donatello for Best Documentary and was nominated as Best European Documentary at European Film Awards (EFA).
The second documentary Friedkin Uncut (2018), which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, won the Nastro d’Argento as Best Cinema Documentary and was a finalist at the David di Donatello Awards, before being released nationally on Sky Arte and subsequently worldwide.
By virtue of her work in the audiovisual field, she has become a member European Film Academy (EFA) since 2016. Over the years she has dedicated herself to various productions including Sergio Leone – The Italian who Invented America, Borromini and Bernini - The Challenge for Perfection, Michelangelo – Saint or Sinner, Volontè - A Man with a Thousand Faces, and Duse - The Greatest.
As a documentary producer, she has always been involved in the narrative approach of the works she has produced, which have always stemmed from the necessary interaction and cooperation with the editorial team and directors in order to find the best way to tell the stories and to reach the widest possible audience. All the productions of Quoiat Films, overseen by Federica, have had wide international distribution, which has also led the company to grow through international co-productions.
Francesco Zippel
Francesco Zippel is a director and producer, active since the beginning of the first decade of the 2000s in the field of documentaries. In 2011 he directed Portrait of Nicholas Ray, a film that had its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival. In 2017 he produced the documentary The Devil and Father Amorth directed by Academy Award winner William Friedkin, to whom Francesco dedicated the subsequent documentary Friedkin Uncut (2018). It premiered in 2018 at the Venice Film Festival, won the Nastro d'Argento for Best Cinema Documentary, and was a finalist at the David di Donatello Awards.
In 2020, he directed and produced Fantastic Mr. Fellini – Interview with Wes Anderson, a tribute to Federico Fellini on the centenary of his birth.
In 2021, he directed Oscar Micheaux – The Superhero of American Filmmaking which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Nastro d'Argento in 2022. In 2022, Sergio Leone – The Italian Who Invented America premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the Nastro d'Argento for Best Documentary of the Year in 2023. He produced Rosa – The Gospel of the Sirens (2022), the first feature-length documentary directed by the actress Isabella Ragonese, and Borromini and Bernini – The Challenge for Perfection (2023), winner of the Nastro d’Argento for Best Art Documentary in 2024.
He produced Michelangelo Saint or Sinner (2024) and Duse - The Greatest (2024) the directorial debut of the actress Sonia Bergamasco, which had its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival. In the same year Volonté - A Man with a Thousand Faces (2024), his latest documentary, marked the director's third film to be showcased at the Venice International Film Festival.
His activity in the artistic field was also recognized in 2014 with his appointment as a member of the Board of Directors of the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico and, from 2015 to 2021, with his appointment as a member of the artistic committee of the Rome Film Festival. Since 2019 he has been a member of the David di Donatello Academy, and from 2023 a member of the European Film Academy.
