From school desks to Cannes Film Festival: 11-year-old Gangi actress Viviana Mocciaro stars in Valeria Golino’s film

Last Updated: May 22, 2024

The young actress Viviana Mocciaro, 11 years old from Gangi, is making her debut at the Cannes Film Festival. She is among the cast of the film “The Art of Joy” directed by Valeria Golino. The story follows a girl from Sicily in the early 1900s, driven by an insatiable desire for knowledge, love, and freedom. The film, presented out of competition, will have its world premiere today at the 77th Cannes International Film Festival. Produced with the support of the Tourism, Sports, and Entertainment Office of the Sicilian Region, it is based on the novel by Goliarda Sapienza and stars Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Jasmine Trinca, Paola Pace, and Tecla Insolia. Viviana, who attends middle school at the Polizzano comprehensive institute in Gangi, played “Anna” in Niccolò Ammaniti’s film of the same name when she was six years old. “I express satisfaction and pleasure,” said Gangi Mayor Giuseppe Ferrarello, “for the new and important milestone reached, my congratulations and those of our community to our little Viviana.”