Sylvia De Fanti

A definition of "international" talent, the fluently multi-lingual polyglot Sylvia De Fanti was born into life as a 'citizen of the World'. Her father (an Italian engineer) was working in Montreal at the time of Sylvia's birth. At 6 months old, his work took the family to Panama, where they lived until Sylvia was 5, when they moved to was Hong Kong. She attended a British school until the age of 12, when her Italian-born parents decided to return to Italy. Her family moved to Rome, where Sylvia has called "home", ever since. Sylvia studied at Universita La Sapienza, then at La Sorbonne, where she enrolled in a Human Sciences curriculum (including courses in Cinema, Postmodernism and Women & Gender Studies). In Paris she stoked her feminism and human rights activism, perfected her French, honed her acting skills and went on stage for the first time. She returned to Rome, Sylvia graduating Cum Laude with Masters in Communication and Cultural Anthropology. She wrote her thesis on Chaos Theory and Complex Identity. She also continued her intense comedy and drama acting training. In 2004, Sylvia co-founded Angelo Mai, a globally recognized, independent creative space and cultural production center in Rome, frequented by renowned international performers and creatives from the music, literature, art, film & TV worlds. It's revered as a "must-visit" for the hip and cultured. She also co-founded Bluemotion, a resident theater company, widely credited with the launch of new wave of modern English dramaturgy in Italy. She participates in productions, when her schedule allows, sometimes in roles that also highlight her abilities for singing and playing bass guitar. A seminal cog in the wheel of the global #occupy movement, and lauded by The New York Times and The Guardian as a maverick institution established to empower Italy's workers in the fields of art, entertainment and culture, was Teatro Valle Occupato, of which Sylvia is also one of the 3 founders. Their organization was bestowed with the European Cultural Foundation's prestigious Princess Margriet Award; one of several humanitarian and cultural awards it received. Sylvia accepted the prize at the ceremony in Belgium. Following roles on epic series "Empire" (Showtime) and "Medici" (Netflix), her first English-language series lead role was the magnificent badass 'Mother Superion' on "Warrior Nun". As of January 2023, the highest ever rated show for Netflix on Rotten Tomatoes. After it's cancellation following season 2, the show rose to internet cult status, with almost 9M fan tweets, articles about it's cancellation in Time magazine and the "Halobearers" (as the fandom calls themselves) fundraising and renting a billboard across the street from the Netflix offices on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. She also starred for a season, on Italy's longest-running and hugely popular television series, "Incantesimo" and has worked with revered European directors Carlos Saura and Giuseppe Tornatore. People magazine (U.S.) called Sylvia "One To Watch".