Cinema Make-up & Special Effects Designer
Matter Becomes Character
Drawing, painting, sculpture and modelling have been part of Dalia Colli’s life since childhood. Different disciplines connected by the same working method: observing, designing and transforming an idea into something tangible.
Through cinema, this natural inclination found its ideal form of expression. The surface may be a canvas, a body or a face; what remains unchanged is the creative process that allows matter to become part of the story.
THE ENCOUNTER WITH CINEMA
A Language That Brings Every Discipline Together
After secondary school, Dalia attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence before continuing her education in Rome, specialising in decoration and directing.
She completed her studies with a project dedicated to the horror and noir genres, overseeing its screenplay, storyboard and production. During this experience, she understood how drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and storytelling could all converge in cinema.
ROME, 2002
Learning Through Materials
After completing her education, Dalia joined a special make-up workshop in Rome. She began working with life casts, sculptures, models and moulds, while studying the chemical properties of different materials and the processes required to create effects for the set.
The workshop became the place where artistic research met precision, repeatability and production requirements. This experience still defines her approach today: designing every element from the outset with its application, continuity and the real timing of a film set in mind.
FROM THE WORKSHOP TO FILM PRODUCTIONS
A Career Built on Set
During the early years of her career, Dalia worked with Vittorio Sodano and later with Alessandro Bertolazzi. She began contributing to productions in Italy and abroad, working alongside teams from different cultures and professional backgrounds.
One of her first international experiences was Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons, a set that allowed her to experience first-hand the organisation and complexity of a major film production.
SINCE 2007
Realism, Darkness and Wonder
Her work on Gomorrah marked the beginning of a long-standing professional collaboration with Matteo Garrone.
From Reality and Dogman to the richly textured, fairy-tale world of Pinocchio, Dalia has helped shape characters inhabiting realistic, dark and poetic worlds.
In these films, make-up is not a decorative element but a storytelling tool: it accompanies the characters’ journeys, makes their transformations visible and strengthens the relationship between face, body and environment.
Italian and International Cinema
Throughout her career, Dalia Colli has worked with directors including Matteo Garrone, Ermanno Olmi and Marco Bellocchio, contributing to productions made in Italy and abroad.
Her career spans auteur cinema, major film productions, television series and fashion films. Among her most significant projects are The Meadows Will Return, The Traitor and the films directed by Matteo Garrone for Dior Haute Couture.
DALIA COLLI MAKEUP LAB
The Livorno Lab
Today, in her Livorno laboratory, Dalia develops characters, prosthetics, life casts, sculptures, moulds, trauma effects, prop bodies and materials prepared specifically for the set.
The laboratory is a space for design and production, as well as professional training. Here, the experience gained over more than twenty years is shared through professional courses dedicated to film make-up and special effects.
Over the course of her career, Dalia has worked on more than thirty productions and has supervised make-up departments since the mid-2000s.