Tao Ruspoli

Tao Ruspoli
Self-portrait
Born
Tao dei Principi Ruspoli

(1975-11-07) 7 November 1975
Bangkok, Thailand
CitizenshipItaly; United States
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA, 1998)
Occupations
  • Filmmaker
  • photographer
  • musician
Years active2000–present
Known forBeing in the World; Monogamish; co-founder of the Bombay Beach Biennale
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2003; div. 2011)​
PartnerDulcinée DeGuere (2020–present)
Parents
  • Alessandro Ruspoli, 9th Prince of Cerveteri (father)
  • Debra Berger (mother)
Relatives
  • Francesco Ruspoli, 10th Prince of Cerveteri (half-brother)
  • Mélusine Ruspoli (half-sister)
  • Bartolomeo Ruspoli (brother)
Websitetaoruspoli.com

Tao dei Principi Ruspoli (/ˈrʊspoʊli/ RUU-spoh-lee; born 7 November 1975) is an Italian-American filmmaker, photographer, and musician. He is known for the documentary features Being in the World (2010) and Monogamish (2017), and as a co-founder of the Bombay Beach Biennale and the Bombay Beach Institute.[1][2]

A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied under the phenomenologist Hubert Dreyfus, Ruspoli combines documentary practice with philosophical inquiry,[3] and was named one of Moviemaker magazine's "10 Young Filmmakers To Watch" in 2008.[4][5] He is also a flamenco guitarist and recorded an album for Mapleshade Records in 2005.[6]

Since 2016 his work has centered on California's Salton Sea region, where he co-founded the Biennale and the Institute.[7][8] He divides his time between Joshua Tree, Bombay Beach, and Italy[9][10] and co-hosts the Being in the World podcast with the neuroscientist Patrick House.[11]

Early life and education

Ruspoli was born in Bangkok, Thailand, on 7 November 1975, and raised in Rome and Los Angeles.[12][3] He is the second son of Alessandro Ruspoli, 9th Prince of Cerveteri (known as "Dado"), an aristocrat and occasional actor, and the Austrian-American actress Debra Berger.[12][13] The family's ancestral seat is the Castello Ruspoli at Vignanello in Lazio.[3]

He graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1993 and received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley in 1998. At Berkeley he studied with Hubert Dreyfus, whose interpretation of Martin Heidegger later shaped his documentary work.[3]

Career

LAFCO and early documentaries (2000–2007)

In 2000, Ruspoli founded the Los Angeles Filmmakers Cooperative (LAFCO), a collective of filmmakers and musicians based in a converted school bus in Venice, California.[1][3] Through LAFCO he directed several documentary shorts and features. Just Say Know (2002) addresses three generations of his family's experience with addiction.[1] This Film Needs No Title: A Portrait of Raymond Smullyan (2004) profiles the mathematician and logician Raymond Smullyan.[1] El Cable (2004) and Behind the Wheel (2008) document subcultural communities. Flamenco: A Personal Journey (2005) follows Ruspoli's study of flamenco guitar with Gitanos musicians in southern Spain and accompanied his album of the same name on Mapleshade Records.[6]

LAFCO also produced the narrative feature Camjackers (2006), on which Ruspoli was credited as co-editor, actor, and executive producer; the film won the editing award at the 44th Ann Arbor Film Festival.[1]

Narrative and documentary features (2008–2017)

Ruspoli's narrative debut, Fix (2008), premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival and won the Heineken Red Star Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.[14] At the Brooklyn International Film Festival it received the Grand Chameleon Award, Best Narrative Feature, and Best Actor;[15] it also won Best Film at the Vail Film Festival and the Twin Rivers Media Festival.[1] Reviews were mixed: Variety called it "breezy, brash" but uneven,[16] while The New York Times described its visual approach as energetic if undisciplined.[17]

Being in the World (2010) is a documentary on Heidegger's concept of being-in-the-world developed through Dreyfus's teaching. It interweaves interviews with philosophers — including Dreyfus, Mark Wrathall, Sean Kelly, Taylor Carman, John Haugeland, Iain Thomson, Charles Taylor, and Albert Borgmann — with portraits of master practitioners such as the chef Leah Chase, the Japanese carpenter Hiroshi Sakaguchi, the flamenco guitarist Manuel Molina, and the jazz pianist Austin Peralta.[4] The film received the Audience Award for Documentary Feature at the Brooklyn International Film Festival[4] and a favorable review in Spirituality & Practice.[18] It has continued to be used as introductory material in university courses on existential phenomenology.[5]

Between 2012 and 2014, Ruspoli was a producer on Dying to Know: Ram Dass & Timothy Leary, directed by Gay Dillingham and narrated by Robert Redford. The documentary screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival and received a limited U.S. theatrical release in 2015; The Hollywood Reporter described it as "both informative and moving".[19]

Monogamish (2017), a documentary on contemporary attitudes to monogamy and alternative relationship structures, was co-written with Mark Wrathall. It includes interviews with the columnist Dan Savage, the psychotherapist Esther Perel, the evolutionary psychologist Christopher Ryan, the historian Stephanie Coontz, and the attorney Diana Adams. The film premiered at the Rome Film Festival in 2015[20] and received a U.S. theatrical release through Abramorama in October 2017.[21] Reviews in IndieWire,[21] Film Inquiry,[22] and Film Threat[23] were favorable.

In addition to his films, Ruspoli published a self-curated photography monograph, Midway on Our Life's Journey, in 2018, gathering twenty years of work.[24]

Bombay Beach Biennale and Institute (2016–present)

In 2016, Ruspoli co-founded the Bombay Beach Biennale with the hotelier Stefan Ashkenazy and the public-art producer Lily Johnson White.[7][8][9] The free, non-commercial event combines site-specific installations, performances, and an academic philosophy conference in the post-industrial landscape of Bombay Beach.[7][8] The Biennale has produced permanent infrastructure in the town, including an outdoor opera house, a drive-in cinema, and several artist-residency spaces;[25] Ruspoli's own contributions include the Bombay Beach Institute of Particle Physics, Metaphysics, and International Relations, an artist-residency compound on the corner of Fifth and H,[25] and the Bombay Beach Metro installation, co-created with the artist Dave Corcoran.[10]

Beginning with the 2026 edition (the tenth annual gathering, branded "Year X"), the organizers shifted to an even-year cadence, with a smaller event called Convivium occurring in odd years.[26][2]

In January 2025, Ruspoli and Dulcinée DeGuere co-founded the Bombay Beach Institute for Industrial Espionage & Post-Apocalyptic Studies, a 501(c)(3) organization for which Ruspoli serves as chairman. The Institute operates as a cultural laboratory and research organization, hosting artist residencies, the annual conference of the American Society for Existential Phenomenology, and public programming across several sites in Bombay Beach.[2]

In May 2024, Ruspoli delivered the commencement address to the University of California, Berkeley philosophy department's graduating class, returning to the department where he had studied with Hubert Dreyfus a quarter-century earlier.[27] Since 2020 he has co-hosted the Being in the World podcast with Patrick House; episodes range over consciousness, artificial intelligence, mental health, and narrative.[11]

The Dulcinée Dialectic (2026)

The Dulcinée Dialectic (2026), a documentary essay film about bipolar II disorder, creativity, and artificial intelligence, premiered at the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival (AmDocs) in Palm Springs in March 2026, where it received the Special Jury Award for Best Feature Documentary and the award for Best Post Production Sound.[28][29] Inspired by Chris Marker's Sans Soleil,[29] the film features Mark Wrathall, Patrick House, the cognitive scientist Aaron Bornstein, the writer Marya Hornbacher, and the musician Emily Wells.[29]

Personal life

Ruspoli married the actress Olivia Wilde in 2003.[13] They announced their separation on 8 February 2011 and the divorce was finalized later that year.[13]

Since 2020 he has been in a relationship with the filmmaker and artist Dulcinée DeGuere, with whom he collaborates on The Dulcinée Dialectic and the Bombay Beach Institute.[2][29] He divides his time between Joshua Tree, Bombay Beach, and Italy.[9][10]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Just Say Know Director, cinematographer, editor Documentary
2004 This Film Needs No Title: A Portrait of Raymond Smullyan Director, cinematographer, editor Documentary
2004 El Cable Director, producer, cinematographer, editor Documentary
2005 Flamenco: A Personal Journey Director, producer, cinematographer Documentary
2006 Camjackers Co-editor, actor, executive producer Narrative feature
2008 Fix Director, writer, cinematographer, actor Narrative feature
2008 Behind the Wheel Director Documentary
2009 American Casino Producer Documentary
2010 Being in the World Director Documentary
2014 Dying to Know: Ram Dass & Timothy Leary Producer Documentary
2017 Monogamish Director, co-writer Documentary
2026 The Dulcinée Dialectic Director, producer, co-editor Documentary

Selected awards and honors

Year Work Award Festival / publication
2006 Camjackers Editing Award Ann Arbor Film Festival
2008 – "10 Young Filmmakers To Watch" Moviemaker[4][5]
2008 Fix Heineken Red Star Award Santa Barbara International Film Festival
2008 Fix Grand Chameleon Award; Best Narrative Feature; Best Actor Brooklyn International Film Festival
2008 Fix Best Film Vail Film Festival; Twin Rivers Media Festival
2010 Being in the World Audience Award, Documentary Feature Brooklyn International Film Festival
2024 – Commencement address, Philosophy Department University of California, Berkeley[27]
2026 The Dulcinée Dialectic Special Jury Award; Best Post Production Sound AmDocs

Discography

  • Flamenco (2005), Mapleshade Records[6]

Bibliography

  • Midway on Our Life's Journey (2018), Blurb. Photography monograph.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Bombay Beach Biennale – Team". Bombay Beach Biennale. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d Ruspoli, Tao (9 May 2025). "From Wasteland to Cultural Laboratory: The Bombay Beach Institute". CounterPunch. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e West, Kevin (April 2009). "Celluloid Prince". W. Retrieved 26 April 2026. {{cite magazine}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b c d "Being in the World by Tao Ruspoli". Brooklyn Film Festival. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  5. ^ a b c "Tao Ruspoli on his film Being in the World". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  6. ^ a b c "Tao Ruspoli – Flamenco". Mapleshade Records. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  7. ^ a b c Miranda, Carolina A. (29 March 2019). "At the Bombay Beach Biennale, an opera greets the sunrise over a toxic Salton Sea". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  8. ^ a b c Swann, Jennifer (10 April 2018). "Bombay Beach Biennale shakes up town at toxic Salton Sea". KCRW. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  9. ^ a b c Rafanelli, Stephanie (Spring 2018). "Is Bombay Beach the New Burning Man?". C Magazine. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  10. ^ a b c "Can Artists Save the Salton Sea?". Palm Springs Life. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  11. ^ a b "Being in the World Podcast". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  12. ^ a b "Prince Dado Ruspoli". The Daily Telegraph. 15 January 2005. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  13. ^ a b c Lee, Joyce (8 February 2011). "Olivia Wilde and Husband Tao Ruspoli Separate". CBS News. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  14. ^ Abele, Robert (28 November 2008). "'Fix' an energetic indie feature". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  15. ^ "Fix by Tao Ruspoli". Brooklyn Film Festival. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  16. ^ Harvey, Dennis (22 January 2008). "Fix". Variety. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  17. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (20 November 2009). "Fix (2009)". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  18. ^ "Being in the World". Spirituality & Practice. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  19. ^ Scheck, Frank (17 June 2016). "'Dying to Know: Ram Dass and Timothy Leary': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  20. ^ Dalton, Stephen (30 October 2015). "'Monogamish': Rome Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  21. ^ a b Brown, Hannah (14 October 2017). "'Monogamish' Review: Polyamorous Documentary Cracks Marriage Wide Open". IndieWire. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  22. ^ "Monogamish: Tao Ruspoli's Journey of Self-Discovery". Film Inquiry. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  23. ^ "Monogamish". Film Threat. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  24. ^ a b Ruspoli, Tao (2018). Midway on Our Life's Journey. Blurb. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  25. ^ a b Zuri, Afrodet (2 April 2019). "Highlights From The 2019 Bombay Beach Biennale". Cool Hunting. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  26. ^ "Opera, philosophy, and open desert at Bombay Beach Biennale". KCRW. 23 March 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  27. ^ a b Ruspoli, Tao (May 2024). Be Philosophers! UC Berkeley Commencement Speech 2024. YouTube. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  28. ^ "2026 Film Winners". American Documentary and Animation Film Festival. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  29. ^ a b c d "The Dulcinée Dialectic". thedulcineedialectic.com. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
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