Werther identifies as a non-binary person. However, he has chosen to use the masculine pronoun for this biography:
Werther graduated in 1988 with a scholarship to the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, where he studied cinematography under the direction of Giuseppe Rotunno. He then graduated from the Institute of Theatrical Directing at the University of Bologna. During his studies, he was already interested in innovative, experimental, neo-conceptual and situational dynamics, characterised by a very strong ironic and surreal style. For many years, he experimented within these art movements using a wide variety of expressive media (from painting to installation, from photography to film, from video to performance). With his projects, he participated in numerous international group and solo exhibitions. As an independent filmmaker, he has often enjoyed collaborating with Maria Laura Spagnoli, his life partner, using her intense pansexual adventures as inspiration for many short films. The films have been screened at many festivals (including Cannes 1994 and Venice 1996) and distributed in European cinemas and on many international television channels.
By now, many elements in Werther's work have changed. The desire for stories in which sex can also become an encouragement for political reflection led him to new projects. Starting with the script and filming of the episode "Smack" in 2016, Werther has sought to raise the artistic bar of his research of sexuality developed in "Tractatus logico-phileroticus". His latest short films could therefore be considered "post-porn" films due to the presence of sexually "explicit" scenes. But for Werther they fulfil a consistently narrative function.
Explicit scenes in Werther's films serve to convey the extent to which a story can be told more (or less) effectively and the differences that arise when some stories are considered with (or without) the presence of explicit scenes. Or trying to create an explicit scene that is an essential part of the story, to the point that its omission does not allow for an accurate expression of the work's vision. All this is done in an attempt to undermine the public's superficial view of erotic and pornographic scenes, and to show that what seems scandalous is often trivial compared to the hypocrisy that dominates human social relations.
