Lorenzo Squarcia is a cinematographer and documentary filmmaker born in Rome, Italy, in 1994. He graduated in Cinema from RUFA – Rome University of Fine Arts and is a co-founder of the production and post-production company Jumping Flea.
He has directed several documentaries, including Koi (2019), which explores the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. The film won the Mosaic World Film Festival in Chicago, the On the Road Film Festival in Rome, and the Roshd International Film Festival in Tehran. It was also invited for a special screening at the Los Angeles Japan Film Festival—the largest Japanese film festival in the United States—and screened in competition at Puerto de Ideas in Chile, South America’s leading nature documentary festival. Koi was also officially selected for DocUtah 2019 and the Buffalo International Film Festival 2019.
His second documentary, Blue Dots (2022), was officially selected for DOC NYC, the largest documentary film festival in the United States, as well as the Tirana International Film Festival and the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia in Tokyo (all Oscar® Qualifying festivals). In 2023, he directed another documentary in Japan entitled Honne and Tatemae.
His films explore themes of perseverance and memory through original, emotionally powerful stories, supported by a distinctive visual style that always serves the narrative. In 2022, he was invited as a guest speaker to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples for a Japanese cultural program exploring the relationship between people and nature in Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 disaster.
In 2025, Tomoshibi was released. Directed by Squarcia, the documentary portrays the lives of people living along Japan’s coastline, now separated from the sea by massive tsunami seawalls. The film was selected for the El Gouna International Film Festival.
As a cinematographer, he shot Duse, directed by Sonia Bergamasco, as well as Giorgio Verdelli’s documentaries on Enzo Jannacci and Rino Gaetano. He also served as Director of Photography for the RAI documentaries Il Tempio della Velocità, Totò e il Principe De Curtis, Enzo Tortora, Nino Benvenuti, and Pietro Mennea.
He has collaborated with director Francesco Zippel as Director of Photography and colorist on the documentaries Vittorio De Sica: La vita in scena (screened in competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival), Camilleri 100, and Ellroy vs L.A.
Since 2024, he has delivered an annual masterclass on documentary filmmaking at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg as part of the “Dialogue of Cultures” international forum.
He also collaborates with the Institute of Anthropology (IADC), producing documentaries and journalistic reports in several countries, including Uganda, South Africa, and Peru.
He continues to develop international documentary projects while working as a director, cinematographer, and lecturer.
