Barbara Cupisti began her career as leading actress in Italian and French films and television serials. For twenty years, she worked with prominent directors, including Tinto Brass, Dario Argento, Norman Jewison, Paul Planchon, Antonio Pedro Vasconcelos, Jhon Lofve, Gabriele Salvatores, and Carlo Verdone. In 2002, she appeared in her final film, the French production Total Kheops with Marie Trintignant and Richard Boheringer.
In 1998, Barbara made her debut as host on Italian state television (RAI) with a live-broadcast program featuring correspondents and guests around the world. Since then, she has continued to develop, produce, and host television programs for RAI as well as private broadcast networks, including launching a new music channel in Italy (Music Box) and serving on a commission for creative development within RAI 1.
In addition to her work in television, Barbara has emerged as one of the most gifted documentary film directors of her generation with her breakthrough film, Madri, (2007), which explored the reality of life in the Occupied Territories through a series of conversations with both Israeli and Palestinian mothers who have lost their children to conflict. Madri was in competition at the "Orizzonti" section of the Venice Film Festival in 2007 and was awarded the "David Donatello Prize" as the Best Italian Documentary Feature of 2008.
Since 2008, she has completed nine documentaries focused on human rights issues, many earning patronage from UNICEF, UNHCR, and Amnesty International and awards at international film festivals. Most notably, her film Fratelli Sorelle, filmed inside Italian prisons, won the Ilaria Alpi Prize in 2012, the nation's most prestigious award for journalism. In 2008, Barbara served on the international jury at the Venice Film Festival. In 2013 and 2014, she was a member of the Ilaria Alpi Prize jury.
