Tao Ruspoli

Background

Ruspoli is the second son of occasional actor and aristocrat Prince Alessandro Ruspoli, 9th Prince of Cerveteri and Austrian-American actress Debra Berger. He is the older brother of Bartolomeo dei Principi Ruspoli (born 6 October 1978 in Rome), second husband of oil heiress Aileen Getty. His half-siblings include Francesco, 10th Prince of Cerveteri; Melusina Ruspoli, and Theodoro Ruspoli.

Ruspoli was born in Bangkok and raised in Rome and Los Angeles. He studied philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.

He married actress Olivia Wilde on 7 June 2003 in Washington, Virginia. On 8 February 2011, they announced that they were separating. Wilde filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court on 3 March 2011, citing "irreconcilable differences". The divorce was finalized on 29 September 2011. Wilde did not seek spousal support, and the pair reached a private agreement on property division.

As of 2009, Ruspoli lives and works in Venice, Los Angeles, as a photographer and filmmaker.

Career

Ruspoli's feature narrative debut, Fix, was one of 10 feature films to screen in competition at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival and soon afterward at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival where Ruspoli was awarded the Heineken Red Star Award for "most innovative and progressive filmmaker". Fix also won the Festival Award for Best Film at the 2008 Brooklyn Film Festival, Vail Film Festival and the 2008 Twin Rivers Media Festival, as well as other prizes at several international festivals.

His most well-known documentaries are Being in the World, an exploration of the real world implications of the philosophical work of Martin Heidegger, and Just Say Know, a personal discussion of his family's drug addiction. His other films include flamenco: A Personal Journey, a feature-length documentary about the flamenco way of life as it is lived by Gypsies in the south of Spain. He has directed a number of other short documentaries, including El Cable (also about Flamenco), and This Film Needs No Title: A Portrait of Raymond Smullyan (a portrait of the renowned logician, mathematician and concert pianist Raymond Smullyan).

Ruspoli founded LAFCO in 2000. The Los Angeles Filmmakers Cooperative, is a bohemian collective of filmmakers and musicians who work out of a converted school bus. Through LAFCO, Ruspoli has produced several films.

His producing credits include the feature film Camjackers, which he also acted in and co-edited. Camjackers won the best editing award at the 44th Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Ruspoli is an accomplished flamenco guitar player.

Filmography

Recordings