Francesca Pirani holds a degree in directing at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, a degree in History and Criticism of Cinema, and a degree in acting at the National Academy of Dramatic Arts "Silvio D'Amico". She collaborated as a screenwriter and assistant director with Marco Bellocchio in La visione del sabba and Il sogno della farfalla. She directed the feature films: L’appartamento and Una bellezza che non lascia scampo, presented at various international festivals (Locarno, Turin, Annecy, Bergamo, Utrecht), and various documentaries, including Napoli! Napoli! Napoli! together with Carlo Lizzani and Beo with Stefano Viali, best Italian documentary at the Rome Independent Film Festival, D'Annunzio: The Man Who Invented Himself with Stefano Viali. She wrote and staged the play 77 The Revolution Is Over. We Won and Fire in the Pan Dark Rabble. She published Tarkovsky – The Nostalgia for Harmony and wrote the film criticism column Schermaglie in the newspaper “Terra”.