A film critic and historian, teacher, journalist, and essayist—was born in Barcellona P.G. (Messina) on June 27, 1947. He has lived in Messina since the age of ten, where he worked as a high school teacher of Italian Literature and as an adjunct professor of Film History and Criticism at the University of Messina’s Faculty of Letters and Philosophy—a subject he currently teaches at the University of the Third Age (Unitre) in Messina. His work focuses primarily on research into cinema in Sicily, silent film, and the relationships between cinema, literature, and history. He has authored countless articles, numerous essays, and several books; specifically, he has published works exploring the connections to cinema of various actors, directors, and writers (such as Pirandello, Verga, and Vittorini). He contributed to the "Storia del Cinema mondiale" (History of World Cinema) edited by Gian Piero Brunetta and published by Einaudi; he reconstructed the history of cinema in the Aeolian Islands and of the "Messina and Taormina International Film Festival" (now the "Taormina Film Fest"); and he wrote a monograph on Febo Mari (a silent-film actor and director), among other projects. He serves as President of the "Orione" Film Club in Messina (affiliated with the FICC—Italian Federation of Film Clubs), is a member of the Italian Association for Research on Film History, and is an honorary member of the National Museum of Cinema in Turin. Over the years, he has participated in numerous seminars, roundtables, and conferences, including international events (in Rome, Leuven, Princeton, etc.); he has contributed—and continues to contribute—to daily newspapers and specialized journals (both print and online); and he has received various awards and accolades for his studies and research in the field of film history.

A pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor whose artistic career spans the United States and Italy, she is a voting member of the Grammy Awards—the "Oscars of music." She performs in theaters worldwide, from the U.S. to Japan and across Europe. Recognized by "JazzIt" magazine as one of Italy's top jazz arrangers, she conducts various Italian orchestras and founded a self-titled big band in Boston featuring musicians from five continents. She composes for theater and musical productions, as well as for jazz and classical ensembles ranging from standard combos to symphony orchestras. Her recordings have garnered widespread critical and public acclaim over the years; her most recent albums—"I Siciliani - Vero Succo Di Poesia" (in collaboration with actor Ninni Bruschetta) and "MITO"—were contenders for the 2021 and 2023 Grammy Awards. A professor of piano and jazz composition at various Italian conservatories, she has served as International President of Women of Jazz South Florida. She holds degrees from the Berklee College of Music in Boston (Jazz Composition and Performance, and Social Psychology) and diplomas in classical piano and music education, as well as a degree in jazz music; she was also honored with the Carla Bley Award as the outstanding jazz composition student at Berklee.

He is a Full Professor of Performing Arts at the University of Messina, where he founded and coordinates the DAMS program and the International Center for Studies on the Performativity of the Arts and Social Imaginaries (UNIVERSITEATRALI). He translated and edited Richard Schechner’s "Introduzione ai Performance Studies" (CUE Press, 2018). He directs the "FARETESTO" series for the publisher Editoria & Spettacolo, which is dedicated to a repertoire of contemporary Italian dramatic texts. Since 2011, he has founded and directed "Mantichora: Italian Journal of Performance Studies", a peer-reviewed journal ranked in the top tier (Fascia A). From 2007 to 2013, he served as a scientific consultant for drama at the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Messina; in this role, he directed the "Paradosso sull’autore" season—dedicated to new Italian playwriting—for six years. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III) and has lectured at numerous Italian and international universities and institutions (including Nanterre – Paris X, Columbia University, the State University of New York, New York University, the Italian Cultural Institute in Chicago, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and Ghent University). He is the author of numerous plays and has directed the theater workshop of the UniversiTeatrali Study Center for several years.

Full Professor at the University of Messina. His research focuses on the cultural and social history of Italian cinema, with particular attention to stardom, auteur cinema, and screen technologies. His publications include "Michelangelo Antonioni. L’avventura" (Lindau, 2010); "L’età dello schermo panoramico. Il cinema italiano e la rivoluzione widescreen" (ETS, 2018; Limina Prize 2019); "Maggiorate. Divismo e celebrità nella nuova Italia" (Marsilio, 2024; Limina Prize 2025); and "Lettere ad Alida Valli. Il culto di una diva nell’Italia fascista" (Marsilio, 2025).