Son of a German mother and Italian father he began to study acting and directing in his hometown when he was a teenager during a workshop with Susan Strasberg. At 18 years old he moved to New York City to study in deep the work of the realistic school of acting. First he started as an intern at the Actors Studio, auditing and observing the sessions for one year and eventually becoming a student of Salem Ludwig at the HB studio. In 2001 he met John Strasberg, son of Lee Strasberg, with whom he has been studying and collaborating as a coordinator for his workshops in Italy and lately also in Berlin.
He wrote the preface of the Italian version of Strasberg´s book Accidentally on purpose published by Dino Audino in 2016. While living and studying in America, Giovanni worked as an actor in several productions directed by Ellen Stewart, founder of La Mama e.t.c., Ted Mornel, Kathleen M. Wilce, and Gus Van Sant. In 2004 he returned to Italy where, after graduating from the National Film School in Rome directed by actor Giancarlo Giannini, he was cast in several roles in theatre, film, and television.
As a Theatre director he has been directing Sola in casa (Alone at home) by Dino Buzzati starring Lydia Biondi and presented at the Cherry Lane Theatre in 2012 and Madre sin Panuelo by Jorge Palant sponsored by the Argentian Embassy and presented in Rome and Milan in the fall of 2015. In 2016 he moved to Berlin where he was cast in For the time being directed by Daniela Lucato that was presented at the 71st edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
Cultural entrepreneurship
Giovanni Morassutti is also the founder and artistic director of Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence which is an international art residency promoting artistic production and research that focuses on the development of the creative process and facilitates cultural exchange across borders. In the past few years he invited to work at the residency international teaching artists like John Strasberg and Italo-Palestinian artist Mustafa Sabbagh who thought a photography masterclass in 2014. He also hosted several artist collectives like Marsala 11 and the Institut für Alles Mögliche of Berlin among others supporting them in the development of their work with exhibitions and open studios.
In 2016 Giovanni Morassutti founded in Berlin, Art Aia-La Dolce Berlin, which is a project space that shares many crossovers with the Italian headquarters including a facilitation of cultural activities and an interest in cultural research and artistic experimentation. Several artists and artist collectives have been hosted in the Berlin affiliation space including Wyatt Mills (USA), Roger Thorp (UK) and Kaoru Shibuta (JPN).
Filmography
Film
Il Fuggiasco (The fugitive), directed by Andrea Manni (2003)
Last Days (2005 film) directed by Gus Van Sant (2005)
Ma che ci faccio qui! (What the Hell Am I Doing Here?), directed by Francesco Amato (2006)
I Viceré (The Viceroys) , directed by Roberto Faenza (2007)
Ventisette: Farsi guardare può essere appagante, directed by Stefano Usardi (2011)
Gli Occhiali (Glasses), episode of P.O.E. Poetry of Eerie, directed by Matteo Corazza (2012)
Leoni (A Holy Venetian Family), directed by di Pietro Parolin (2015)
Il mio giorno (My day), directed by Stefano Usardi (2015)
Luigo directed by Stefano Usardi (2017)
For the time being, directed by Daniela Lucato (2017)
The Audience, directed by Tasya Martin (2017)
Dimmi chi sono (Tell me who I am) directed by Luca Caserta (2018)
Affitasi vita directed by Stefano Usardi (2018)
Television
Un papà quasi perfetto directed by Maurizio dell´Orso (2003)
Il maresciallo Rocca e l'amico d'infanzia, directed by Fabio Jephcott (2008)
La certosa di Parma directed by Cinzia Th Torrini (2012)
Di padre in figlia (From Father to Daughter), directed by Riccardo Milani (2017)
Stage Actor
I creditori, directed by F.Olivetti (2001)
Marrie Stecchino, directed by K.M.Wilce (2001)
Frammenti dall´Eneide, directed by Ellen Stewart (2001)
Antigone, directed by Ellen Stewart (2003)
Richard III, directed by Ted Mornel (2003)
Cinque donne con lo stesso vestito (Five women with the same dress) directed by E.Pippo (2003)
Diana Cantelma, directed by Ellen Stewart (2002)
Storie di ordinaria follia, directed by J.D.Puerta Lopez (2006)
Il ragazzo con l´albergo, directed by D.Warren (2007)
Io, Clarence, directed by Adelmo Togliani (2008)
Copenhagen, directed by M. Dal Collo (2009)
Talk to me like the rain and let me listen, directed by L.Vinciguerra (2009)
Railroad, directed by Bryan Reynolds (2010)
The Queen of Hearts directed by Andrea Paciotto (2014)
Anna Politkocskaja, In Memoriam, directed by Salvino Raco (2014)
Assistant director
Ella´s secret directed by Harris Freedman (2012)
Lovely head written by Neil LaBute, directed by Marco Calvani (2012)
Tchaikovsky directed by Harris Freedman (2013)
Director
Sola in casa, written by Dino Buzzati (2012)
Madre sin panuelo, written by Jorge Palant (2015)
Cultural events and workshops organized
International residential workshop with John Strasberg (1st and 2nd edition). Art Aia-Creatives / In / Residence, Sesto al Reghena (PN), Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, 2013,2014.
Mappe fluide by art collective Marsala 11. Art Aia-Creatives / In / Residence, Sesto al Reghena (PN), Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, 2014.
La MaMa Umbria: Acting for the Camera. La MaMa Umbria International, Spoleto PG, Italy, 2015.
Berlin art exchange (program 1) Carlo De Meo, Matteo Giuntini, Chloe Smith. Institut für Alles Mögliche of Berlin.Wedding, Berlin, Germany, 2016.
Berlin acting Masterclass by John Strasberg (1st and 2nd edition) Tatwerk & SomoS, Neukölln Berlin, Germany. 2016,2017.
Fountain road by Roger Thorp. Art Aia-La Dolce Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2017.
A meteorological report Performance by Elsa Mencagli. Art Aia-La Dolce Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2017.
Invisible Cities. Solo Show by Annelisa Leinbach. Art Aia-La Dolce Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2017.
Berlin art exchange (program 2) Institut für Alles Mögliche of Berlin. Art Aia-Creatives / In / Residence, Sesto al Reghena (PN), Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, 2017.
Jeunnehomme – pop up mozart Paintings by Kaoru Shibuta. Art Aia-La Dolce Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2018.
Shadow people”Works by Magdalena Piech and Ted Titus. Art Aia-La Dolce Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2018.
Improvise Collecting of Landscape - paintings by Chung. Art Aia-La Dolce Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2018.
E as R. A motion-tracking sound and visual piece by Morgan Jenks. Art Aia-La Dolce Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2018.
James Devlin - Paintings. Art Aia-La Dolce Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2018.
Pop up exhibition with mixed media & collages of Sarah Wölker. Art Aia-La Dolce Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2018.
Connected by a Thread. Arts Territory Exchange Residency in Sustainable Practice. Art Aia-Creatives / In / Residence, Sesto al Reghena (PN), Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, 2018.
Miracle Pictures -Paul Wesenberg. Museo di arte sacra conteporanea. Art Aia-Creatives / In / Residence, Sesto al Reghena (PN), Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, 2018.
