Giacomo Battiato (born 18 October 1943) is an Italian film director and writer. He began his career in 1973 on Italian RAI TV and ten years later started in cinema with I paladini. His first book, Fuori dal cielo (1996), won the Prize Domenico Rea. He directed two non-fiction films about Pope John Paul II: Karol: A Man Who Became Pope (Karol, un uomo diventato Papa) in 2005 and Karol: The Pope, The Man (Karol, un papa rimasto uomo) in 2006.