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Luciana Maria Arrighi AM (born 1940) is a Brazilian-born, Australian-Italian production designer. In 1993, she won an Oscar for Best Art Direction for the film Howards End (1992), becoming the first Brazilian-born person to win an Oscar. She also earned two more Oscar nominations in the same category for The Remains of the Day (1993) in 1994, and Anna and the King (1999) in 2000. In 2003, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Art Direction for the television film The Gathering Storm (2002).

Career

Luciana Arrighi was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1940, daughter of Italian diplomat and former journalist Count Ernesto Arrighi, and Australian Eleanor ("Nellie"), daughter of grazier Douglas Cox. Nellie had been a showgirl with J.C. Williamson Ltd, and later a model for Schiaparelli in Paris, and was distantly related by marriage to the novelist Patrick White (Her paternal grandfather's sister was married to Patrick White's great-uncle); over the course of their long friendship they claimed "cousinhood". Ernesto Arrighi was appointed consul at Melbourne in 1937, and met Nellie on a visit to Sydney. They married in 1939, and Ernesto was posted to Rio de Janeiro, where Luciana, their first child, was born. The family returned to Rome in 1943 before going to Nice on the French Riviera, and after the surrender of Italy to the Allies Ernesto was imprisoned by the Germans for "high treason" in 1943. On his release, he was given a diplomatic posting to Sydney, his wife and two daughters going ahead of him, but he died suddenly before being able to join them.

Arrighi left Brazil with her parents when she was two years old and was raised and educated in Australia, studying at East Sydney Technical College (now the National Art School). She went to the United Kingdom, where she worked for the BBC; she was spotted by Ken Russell, who used her talents in some of his early films such as Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1966) and Women in Love (1969).

She went on to study painting in Italy and she has also worked in costume design in theatre and opera, including with Vienna State Opera, Opera Australia and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. She lived in Paris for two years and was a model for French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

In 1993, Arrighi received the Silver Ribbon for Best Production Design Award and the Oscar for Best Art Direction for the film Howards End directed by James Ivory. She was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction for the film The Remains of the Day (1993), also by James Ivory, and Anna and the King (1999) by Andy Tennant. She won the British BAFTA Award for Best Art Direction for the television film The Gathering Storm (2002), directed by Richard Loncraine.

Personal life

In 1970, Arrighi married Captain Rupert Milo Talbot Chetwynd (1934-2021), of the Grenadier Guards and 21st SAS Regiment, later an adventurer and founder of a medical mission to Afghanistan. He was a descendant of the 6th Viscount Chetwynd. They had a son, Aaron, and daughter, Alalia, the artist Monster Chetwynd. Arrighi splits her time between London and France.

Filmography

Production design

Scenographer:

• Monitor (1965), director David Jones, 1 episode
• Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1966), TV, director Ken Russell
• Omnibus (1967), 1 episode
• Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), director John Schlesinger
• The Night the Prowler (1978), director Jim Sharman
• My Brilliant Career (1979), director Gillian Armstrong
• The Return of the Soldier (1982), director Alan Bridges
• Privates on Parade (1983), director Michael Blakemore
• The Ploughman's Lunch (1983), director Richard Eyre
• Mrs. Soffel (1984), director Gillian Armstrong
• Madame Sousatzka (1988), director John Schlesinger
• The Rainbow (1989), director Ken Russell
• Bye Bye Columbus (1991), TV, director Peter Barnes
• Close My Eyes (film) (1991), director Stephen Poliakoff
• Howards End (film) (1992), director James Ivory
• The Innocent (1993), director John Schlesinger
• The Remains of the Day (film) (1993), director James Ivory
• Only You (1994 film) (1994), director Norman Jewison
• Sense and Sensibility (film) (1995), director Ang Lee
• Surviving Picasso (1996), director James Ivory
• Victory (1996 film) (1996), director Mark Peploe
• Oscar and Lucinda (film) (1997), director Gillian Armstrong
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999 film) (1999), director Michael Hoffman
• Jakob the Liar (1999)
• Anna and the King (1999), director Andy Tennant
• The Gathering Storm (2002 film) (2002), TV, director Richard Loncraine
• The Importance of Being Earnest (2002 film) (2002), director Oliver Parker
• Possession (2002 film) (2002), director Neil LaBute
• My House in Umbria (2003), TV, director Richard Loncraine
• Being Julia (2004), director István Szabó
• Fade to Black (2006 film) (2006), director Oliver Parker
• Into the Storm (2009 film) (2009), TV, director Thaddeus O'Sullivan
• From Time to Time (2009), director Julian Fellowes
• Singularity (2013), director Roland Joffé
• Angelica (2015), director Mitchell Lichtenstein

Costume design

• Starstruck (2010 film) (1982)
• Privates on Parade (1983)
• The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)
• Un ballo in maschera (1989), TV

Set and production design

• Women in Love (1969), director Ken Russell

Awards and nominations

Notes

1. Arrighi holds only Italian and Australian citizenship.

References

1. ^ David Marr: Patrick White: A Life, p.270
2. ^ Lorentz, Braulio (3 March 2018). "Brasil já ganhou um Oscar? Luciana Arrighi nasceu no Rio e foi premiada: 'Minha estatueta é um pouco brasileira'" [Has Brazil ever won an Oscar? Luciana Arrighi was born in Rio and was awarded: 'My statuette is a bit Brazilian']. G1 (in Portuguese).
3. ^ "Luciana Arrighi Biography". lucianaarrighi.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
4. ^ "The 65th Academy Awards (1993) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
5. ^ "BAFTA Awards | Television Craft | Production Design in 2003". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
6. ^ "Biography - Eleanor Douglas Arrighi - People Australia". peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au.
7. "30 Women You Should Know About", Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 1998, Good Weekend, p. 16
8. Borrelli-Persson, Laird (11 July 2022). "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Is a Fitting Coda to the Fall 2022 Couture Season". Vogue.
9. Thorpe, Vanessa (16 December 2018). "Monster Chetwynd: 'I believe in keeping morale high. Depressing people stops them taking action'". The Guardian.
10. "Rupert Chetwynd obituary". The Times. 24 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021.
11. "Captain Rupert Chetwynd, soldier and adventurer who helped to run a medical mission to Afghanistan – obituary". The Telegraph. 9 June 2021.
12. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, p. 769
13. "The 66th Academy Awards (1994) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
14. "The 72nd Academy Awards (2000) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
15. "Art Directors Guild: ADG Awards – 2000 Winners & nominees". Art Directors Guild.
16. "AACTA Awards 1979". Australian Film Institute.
17. ^ "Luciana Arrighi | Awards". All Movie. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
18. "Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 1993". Mubi.
19. "Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 2000". Mubi.
20. "4th Annual Film Awards (1999) - Online Film & Television Association". Online Film & Television Association.
21. ^ "Luciana Arrighi - Emmy Awards Nominations". Emmys.com. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
22. "4th Satellite Awards". FilmAffinity.
23. "4th Annual Film Awards (1999) - Online Film & Television Association". Online Film & Television Association.
24. "Luciana Arrighi - Brazil | The Lifetime Achievement Award (Film)". Women's International Film & Television Showcase.

External links

• Luciana Arrighi's official site
• Luciana Arrighi at IMDb

• 1940 births
• Living people
• People from Rio de Janeiro (city)
• Australian production designers
• Italian production designers
• Best Art Direction Academy Award winners
• National Art School alumni
• Members of the Order of Australia
• Brazilian emigrants to Australia
• Australian emigrants to Italy
• Best Production Design AACTA Award winners
• Women production designers
• Australian female models
• Italian female models