Gianluigi Toccafondo was born in 1965 in San Marino, graduated from the Urbino School of Fine Arts, and now lives in Bologna. He is a versatile artist—painter, animator, illustrator, writer, and filmmaker—passionate about graphic art, cinema, and their intersection. In his work, he sets painting in motion through a technique that established him in the 1990s as one of the leading directors of animated cinema: he uses pre-existing images (magazine photos, film stills), which he distorts through photocopying, then reworks with acrylic, pencil, or other media, before re-filming them one by one.

Active since 1989, he is the author of many short animated films presented and awarded at film festivals in Annecy, Clermont-Ferrand, and Venice. He has created commercials and jingles for clients such as Sambuca Molinari, Rai, and Fandango; he was assistant director on Gomorra by Matteo Garrone, and created the opening credits for Robin Hood by Ridley Scott. He has also worked as an illustrator for several publishing houses (Einaudi, Feltrinelli, Mondadori, Fandango, Logos, Corraini) and magazines, including "Linea d’ombra", "Lo Straniero", and "Abitare".