About us
Quoiat Films is a production company founded in 2015 by Federica Paniccia and Francesco Zippel, specialising in international films, documentary series and podcasts. With a strong focus on authentic storytelling, Quoiat also provides production services, consultancy on public funding and tax credits, and executive production services for international companies filming in Italy.
The company works with leading Italian and international broadcasters and platforms, including Sky, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Disney, Paramount, Fox, Rai and Treccani. Its productions include the behind-the-scenes documentaries for Ben-Hur and Zoolander 2, the UNESCO-themed series Patrimoni, and Friedkin Uncut (2018), which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, won the Nastro d’Argento for Best Documentary on Cinema and was nominated for a David di Donatello Award.
Its most notable works include Fantastic Mr. Fellini (2020), featuring Wes Anderson; Oscar Micheaux - The Superhero of Black Filmmaking (2021), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won a Nastro d’Argento; Rosa - The Gospel of the Sirens (2022); Borromini and Bernini - The Challenge for Perfection (2023), which ranked third at the Italian box office upon its release; and Sergio Leone - The Italian Who Invented America (Venice Film Festival 2022, Nastro d’Argento 2023), whose director’s cut was subsequently presented at the Locarno Film Festival.
In 2024, Quoiat presented Volonté - A Man with a Thousand Faces at the Venice Film Festival and Duse - The Greatest at the Rome Film Fest, reaffirming its commitment to portraying iconic figures through the language of cinema.
In 2025, Quoiat Films released three new productions: Camilleri 100, a documentary dedicated to the celebrated writer Andrea Camilleri, broadcast in prime time on Rai Uno; Ellroy vs L.A., which had its world premiere at the Rome Film Fest on October and won the Nastro d’Argento for Best Documentary in the “Cinema, Entertainment and Culture” category. The documentary explores the life and work of American writer James Ellroy through a visceral, direct encounter with the city of Los Angeles, accompanied by an original score by Calibro 35. In November 2025, Paving the Way: Franca’s Legacy, directed by Federica Cellini and Francesco Zippel, dedicated to Italian fashion journalism icon Franca Sozzani, had its world premiere at the Doha Film Festival.
Quoiat Films’ latest production is Vittorio De Sica – Staging life, the only Italian film selected at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Francesco Zippel’s film traces the life, work and legacy of one of the greatest masters of world cinema, taking audiences to the heart of his vision: his extraordinary ability to transform life into storytelling and human experience into images. The documentary has also been selected at DMZ Docs Korea, at Doc Lisboa and at Cairo International Film Festival so far.
Founders
Federica Paniccia
Federica Paniccia is a film producer.
Her first feature doc produced, S is for Stanley (2016), won the David di Donatello for Best Documentary and was nominated as Best European Documentary at European Film Awards (EFA).
The second documentary Friedkin Uncut (2018), which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, won the Nastro d’Argento as Best Cinema Documentary and was a finalist at the David di Donatello Awards, before being released nationally on Sky Arte and subsequently worldwide.
By virtue of her work in the audiovisual field, she has become a member European Film Academy (EFA) since 2016. Over the years she has dedicated herself to various productions including Sergio Leone – The Italian who Invented America, Borromini and Bernini - The Challenge for Perfection, Michelangelo – Saint or Sinner, Volontè - A Man with a Thousand Faces, and Duse - The Greatest.
As a documentary producer, she has always been involved in the narrative approach of the works she has produced, which have always stemmed from the necessary interaction and cooperation with the editorial team and directors in order to find the best way to tell the stories and to reach the widest possible audience. All the productions of Quoiat Films, overseen by Federica, have had wide international distribution, which has also led the company to grow through international co-productions.
Francesco Zippel
Francesco Zippel is a director and producer, active since the beginning of the first decade of the 2000s in the field of documentaries. In 2011 he directed Portrait of Nicholas Ray, a film that had its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival. In 2017 he produced the documentary The Devil and Father Amorth directed by Academy Award winner William Friedkin, to whom Francesco dedicated the subsequent documentary Friedkin Uncut (2018). It premiered in 2018 at the Venice Film Festival, won the Nastro d'Argento for Best Cinema Documentary, and was a finalist at the David di Donatello Awards.
In 2020, he directed and produced Fantastic Mr. Fellini – Interview with Wes Anderson, a tribute to Federico Fellini on the centenary of his birth.
In 2021, he directed Oscar Micheaux – The Superhero of American Filmmaking which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Nastro d'Argento in 2022. In 2022, Sergio Leone – The Italian Who Invented America premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the Nastro d'Argento for Best Documentary of the Year in 2023. He produced Rosa – The Gospel of the Sirens (2022), the first feature-length documentary directed by the actress Isabella Ragonese, and Borromini and Bernini – The Challenge for Perfection (2023), winner of the Nastro d’Argento for Best Art Documentary in 2024.
He produced Michelangelo Saint or Sinner (2024) and Duse - The Greatest (2024) the directorial debut of the actress Sonia Bergamasco, which had its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival. In the same year Volonté - A Man with a Thousand Faces (2024), his latest documentary, marked the director's third film to be showcased at the Venice International Film Festival.
His activity in the artistic field was also recognized in 2014 with his appointment as a member of the Board of Directors of the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico and, from 2015 to 2021, with his appointment as a member of the artistic committee of the Rome Film Festival. Since 2019 he has been a member of the David di Donatello Academy, and from 2023 a member of the European Film Academy.
