Rosi is the only documentary filmmaker to win two highest awards at the three major European film festivals (Venice, Berlin, and Cannes) and is the only director besides Michael Haneke, Ang Lee, Ken Loach, and Jafar Panahi to do so in the 21st century.

[1][2] After graduation, Rosi found his first feature project after being told that Miami, where he shot his student film, reminded of Benares, the holy city in India where Hindus go to die.

[8] Rosi then came back to Italy to work on Sacro GRA (2013), for which he lived for almost three years in a trailer near the Grande Raccordo Anulare, a circular ring road motorway encompassing the center of Rome, documenting the stories of people around it.

[4][11] This unexpected win raised Rosi's profile considerably, although inside Italy he had to contend with some prominent voices opposing the idea of awarding a non-fiction work with the Golden Lion, such as journalist Curzio Maltese and filmmaker Pupi Avati.

[1][12] He shot Fire at Sea (2016) for almost a year in Lampedusa, focusing on the crisis as seen through the people of the island, such as 12-years old Samuele and migrants' doctor Pietro Bartolo.