Alessandra Martines

Alessandra Martines (born 19 September 1963) is an Italian French dancer and actress mainly working in the English-, French-, and Italian-speaking worlds. She started young in ballet on opera stages in Switzerland, France, the United States and then Italy before becoming a lead on television for RAI captured ballets and entertainment shows (the Italian national public broadcasting) in the eighties. She is primarily known for portraying the main role in the cult Fantaghirò series, consisting of five films (1991–1996) still regularly re-run across Europe as of 2020, and for her work in auteur productions such as nine films by Claude Lelouch to whom she was married until 2009.

She was awarded numerous prizes including the Best Actress Telegatto for The Cave of the Golden Rose (1991), the Grolla d'oro for Edda [it] (2005), the Silver Hugo for Best Actress at the Chicago International Film Festival (1998) for Chance or Coincidence, the Diamanti al Cinema Award in Cannes (2007) or the 2009 European Golden Globe in Rome. In 2008, she was made Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite awarded by the President of the French Republic. She received the lifetime achievement Kineo Award at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014.

Second cousin of Carla Bruni and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, she moved to France with her family at the age of five.