Carlo Carlei

Gifted young director whose first feature release "Flight of the Innocent" (1993), received glowing reviews and was a hit on the festival circuit. Carlei began directing in his native Italy. His first short, "Through the Light," an homage to the work of Stanley Kubrick, was released as part of an Italian science fiction anthology. Carlei next took a job at a distribution company, where he aquired the foreign rights to "9 1/2 Weeks." After receiving a substantial bonus he left his job to direct the Italian TV-movie "Captain Cosmos." Carlei's next effort and his first feature, "Flight of the Innocent," was a fast-paced thriller that followed a young boy's flight from his family's assassins. Initially a flop, the film was pulled from Italian theaters. Only after the festival buzz was it re-distributed abroad by Disney (where it became a hit) and domestically by MGM.