Paolo Virzì (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaːolo virˈdzi]; born 4 March 1964) is an Italian film director, writer and producer.

Virzì was born in Livorno, Italy, in 1964, as the son of a Sicilian police officer in the Carabinieri and a former singer. After spending his early childhood in Turin in the north of Italy, Virzì's family moved back to Livorno where he grew up in the working class area of "Le Sorgenti". As a small boy, he started to cultivate his lifelong passion for literature: Mark Twain and Charles Dickens were among his favourite authors and their classic "coming of age" novels would later serve as a model for his screenplays.

As a teenager, Virzì's versatility was already in evidence as he threw himself into writing, directing and acting in plays for drama companies in Livorno. He formed an artistic partnership with his schoolmate Francesco Bruni, who would later become his trusted co-screenwriter. For a time, Paolo attended Literature and Philosophy classes at Pisa University and shot some short films and a few longer features that have since vanished in the annals of time. He then left Livorno for Rome, where he studied screenwriting at the historic Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia film school, graduating in 1987. His teachers included prestigious film director, Gianni Amelio and the screenwriter of some of the greatest Italian movies of all time, Furio Scarpelli: Scarpelli was to play a crucial role in Virzì's life, becoming his mentor and his guide, his "maestro" in other words. Paolo co-wrote with Scarpelli the screenplay for Giuliano Montaldo's Time to Kill, based on the novel by Ennio Flaiano and starring Nicolas Cage. Between the late 1980s and early 1990s, he also co-wrote the screenplays of Turnè (On Tour) (1990) directed by Gabriele Salvatores, Condominio (1991) directed by Felice Farina and Centro Storico (1982) directed by Roberto Giannarelli. He also worked with the famous Neapolitan writer Raffaele La Capria on a TV movie A Private Affair directed by Alberto Negrin and adapted from the novel Una questione privata (A Private Affair) by Beppe Fenoglio, starring young British actor and star of Room with a View, Rupert Graves.

Virzì made his directorial début in 1994, with La bella vita, originally titled Dimenticare Piombino (Forgetting Piombino) after the Tuscan city the film is set in. Virzì's first feature film stars Sabrina Ferilli and Massimo Ghini, and tells the story of a love triangle set against the backdrop of the irreversible identity crisis of the Italian working class. The movie was presented at the 1994 Venice International Film Festival and won the Ciak d’oro prize, the Nastro d'Argento (Silver Ribbon) award and the prestigious David di Donatello Award in the "Best New Director" category. With this début, Paolo revealed his exceptional talent in directing actors and in mixing drama with humor.

In his next film Ferie d'agosto (1995), featuring a stunning cast (Silvio Orlando, Laura Morante, Ennio Fantastichini, Sabrina Ferilli and Piero Natoli), the island of Ventotene sets the scene for a feud between two families on holiday. In this comedy, Virzì reflects on the political revolution that took place in Italy after the introduction of the majority electoral system, Silvio Berlusconi's entry into politics and the subsequent transformation of a country called to choose between one of two opposed political formations. Ferie d'agosto won the David Award for Best Film of the year.

Ovosodo (Hardboiled Egg) (1997), named after a neighbourhood in Livorno, is one of Virzì's most personal films. The lead role is played by Edoardo Gabbriellini, one of the new Italian film talents discovered by Virzi. Despite its strong ties to local accents and lifestyle, Ovosodo received wide acclaim from critics and audiences alike: the jury of the Venice International Film Festival presided over by Jane Campion, awarded Paolo Virzì the Jury Grand Prix.

In 1999, Virzì directed Baci e abbracci (Kisses and Hugs), a blend of fable, social comedy and a Christmas tale à la Dickens. Yet its most obvious reference is to Gogol's The Inspector General that had already inspired Luigi Zampa's Anni ruggenti in 1962. Baci e abbracci is an ensemble piece about a group of ex-factory workers who try to start up an ostrich farm in the middle of Tuscany. In this movie, Virzì once again portrays Italian provincial society seduced by the irresistible appeal of modernity. His younger brother, Carlo Virzì, who plays the frontman of a band called "Snaporaz", is in fact the author of the music of several of Virzì’s films and made his own film début in 2006 with L'estate del mio primo bacio, written and scripted by Paolo.

The financial troubles of Vittorio Cecchi Gori, producer and distributor of Virzì's first films, slowed down the making of My Name Is Tanino (2002). Shot between Sicily, Canada and the United States, the shooting of the film was beset with difficulties: the screenplay written by Virzì, Francesco Bruni and the writer Francesco Piccolo had to be rewritten several times during the filming to counter financial cutbacks. The main actor was once again a newcomer, Corrado Fortuna, who plays a young man who escapes from his native Sicily to go to the United States in pursuit of the American dream.