Emilio Insolera

Emilio Insolera is a producer and actor, known for Sign Gene (2017).

Insolera was born profoundly deaf to Italian deaf parents in Buenos Aires, Argentina and was raised in Italy. As a Fulbright and Roberto Wirth scholar, he received his bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and Film from Gallaudet University and his master's degree in Mass Communication with Summa Cum Laude from University of Rome La Sapienza. After freelancing for MTV, Time Out New York and ELLEgirl while residing in New York City, he returned to Rome and collaborated with LISMedia and Mason Perkins Deafness Fund to the realization of Un Picnic Tutto Pazzo. Along with researchers Elena Radutzky and Mauro Mottinelli, Insolera produced the first Italian Sign Language dictionary in DVD format.

Tim Burton and Emilio Insolera. Tokyo, Japan.

Currently, he is working on his first long feature action and adventure movie Sign Gene between Japan, USA and Italy. It is about deaf superheroes who have the ability to create supernatural powers throughout the use of sign language.Originally starting out as a short film, it garnered such a groundswell of interest with people offering to become involved, that Insolera, upon realizing it had the legs for a shot at the big time, had to rewrite the script into a feature-length. The casting came by way of word of mouth: Insolera was especially looking for native signers fluent in Sign language.

Sign Gene is making waves, and has inspired one Italian linguist to declare it “the symbol of activism for the visual community.”

He is in married to Norwegian model Carola Insolera, whom he met while in Tokyo.

Music video

(2014) “Flash” song written by Maria Eva Albistur’s Santa Fe. Featuring Insolera