Birthday:
09-29-1912
Deathday:
07-30-2007 (94 years)
Birthplace:
Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Biography
Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor, and short story writer. Best known for his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents" — L'Avventura (1960), La Notte (1961), and L'Eclisse (1962), as well as the English-language Blowup (1966), Antonioni "redefined the concept of narrative cinema" and challenged traditional approaches to storytelling, realism, drama, and the world at large. He produced "enigmatic and intricate mood pieces" and rejected action in favor of contemplation, focusing on image and design over character and story. His films defined a "cinema of possibilities".
Antonioni received numerous awards and nominations throughout his career, including the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize (1960, 1962), Palme d'Or (1966), and 35th Anniversary Prize (1982); the Venice Film Festival Silver Lion (1955), Golden Lion (1964), FIPRESCI Prize (1964, 1995), and Pietro Bianchi Award (1998); the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon eight times; and an honorary Academy Award in 1995. He is one of three directors to have won the Palme d'Or, the Golden Lion and the Golden Bear, and the only director to have won these three and the Golden Leopard.
Antonioni received numerous awards and nominations throughout his career, including the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize (1960, 1962), Palme d'Or (1966), and 35th Anniversary Prize (1982); the Venice Film Festival Silver Lion (1955), Golden Lion (1964), FIPRESCI Prize (1964, 1995), and Pietro Bianchi Award (1998); the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon eight times; and an honorary Academy Award in 1995. He is one of three directors to have won the Palme d'Or, the Golden Lion and the Golden Bear, and the only director to have won these three and the Golden Leopard.
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Their works
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Cinéma et Réalité
Act like Self
event1967
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In this documentary, giants of italian cinema such as Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini and Zavattini talk about the importance of cinema after WW2, and about huge moments of social rebellion. This movie gives the floor to the creators of italian neorealism.
Close Up
Act like Self (archive footage)
event2012 star_border 9
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More than 150 silent short films about singers, actors and directors captured during Press Conferences in Cannes, Venice and Berlin, between 1993 and 2002. Presented the first time in 2012 (ten years after the last shooting) in Napoli Film Festival and in 2013 at the Art Institute of California in Santa Ana. An anthropological experiment on the facial expressions of famous people showing the human being aspect. All original footage from Mel Gibson to Peter Jackson, from George Lucas to Catherine Deneuve, from Michael Douglas to Giancarlo Giannini and many others.
Un pò di Giappone
Act like Self (uncredited)
event1990
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In the 1980s, Michelangelo Antonioni traveled with his partner, actress and filmmaker Enrica Fico Antonioni, to Japan with the intent of creating a documentary, Un viaggio in Giappone, that would chronicle “the social transformations undergoing in Japan through the experimental use of new film technologies,” specifically the Betacam. Un pò di Giappone is the shortened version of the documentary.
Michelangelo Eye to Eye
Act like Self
event2004 star_border 6.1
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Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni enters St. Peter's Church in Rome, wherein lies Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarotti's statue of Moses.
A Thousand and One Monica
event2006
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There is no shortage of words to define the actress, screenwriter and director Monica Vitti: Intense, beautiful, sensual, eclectic, intelligent, muse... She was a shining star during the golden age of Italian cinema. She is a legendary figure who served as example for generations of young filmmakers. Monica Vitti’s story is the story of Italian cinema; her life is inextricably linked to the medium. This documentary shows the sheer physicality of her acting; her visceral style which demanded that everything, personality defects included, was integrated into her unique performances.
I Am Not God But I Am Michelangelo Antonioni
Act like Self (archive footage)
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A documentary which explores the life and the career of Michelangelo Antonioni, one of the greatest Italian directors, through archival footage and interviews.
Antonioni visto da Antonioni
Act like Self
event1978
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An interview with Antonioni about his film career, shot in 1978 by eminent film critic, film historian and founder of the Pesaro Film Festival, Lino Miccichè. Karlovy Vary IFF 2012
Back to Room 666
Act like Self (archive footage)
event2008 star_border 5.5
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What is the future of cinema? In 1982, in Cannes, Wim Wenders invited many movie makers to answer this question. 26 years later, the question remains, but Wenders is now on the other side of the camera.
Farewell to Enrico Berlinguer
Act like Self
event1984 star_border 6.2
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A film of Enrico Berlinguer's funeral in Rome, briefly tracing his career as leader of the Italian Communist Party.
Words in Progress
event2004 star_border 4
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Documentary featuring footage from six decades of Cannes Film Festivals.
Autoritratto Auschwitz. L'occhio è per così dire l'evoluzione biologica di una lagrima
Act like Self
event2007
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In the film we find some scrap of slow motion they see a Monica Vitti trying to cry, a meeting between Antonioni and Grifi, a film shot in the concentration camp of Auschwitz with a survivor who recounts those awful moments, a glimpse of Palestine today, Grifi's reflections on the prison.
Michelangelo Antonioni: The Eye That Changed Cinema
Act like Self (archive footage)
event2001 star_border 9
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A look back at the life and works of Michelangelo Antonioni.
Room 666
Act like Self
event1982 star_border 6.4
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During the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, Wenders asks a number of global film directors to, one at a time, go into a hotel room, turn on the camera and answer a simple question: "What is the future of cinema?"
To Make a Film Is to Be Alive
Act like Self (uncredited)
event1995
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A behind-the-scenes look by wife Enrica Antonioni into Michelangelo Antonioni's passion for cinema as he directs Beyond the Clouds (1995), assisted by filmmaker Wim Wenders.
Antonioni: Documents and Testimonials
Act like Self
event1965 star_border 6.2
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A behind-the-scenes documentary about director Michelangelo Antonioni as he's shooting his segment of The Three Faces, a vehicle for Soraya, the former empress of Persia. Featuring interviews with Monica Vitti, Tonino Guerra and more.
Underground New York
Act like Self
event1968
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A rare behind-the-scenes view of the exploding New York “underground” in the late sixities, a turbulent time and place that was to change American culture forever. A German TV crew, led by journalist Gideon Bachmann, explores the epicenter of the sixties revolution in art, music, poetry and film and interviews the main players in the “New American Cinema,” that was born on the streets of New York. Against a backdrop of cultural upheaval in all of the arts and growing political agitation against the Vietnam War, Bachman interviews the most prominent figures in “underground film,” including Jonas Mekas, Shirley Clarke, the Kuchar Brothers and Bruce Connor, and visits the most notorious location in the New York art world of the era - Andy Warhol’s Factory - to conduct an interview with the genius of Pop Art himself.
Fame, Fashion and Photography: The Real Blow Up
Act like Self (archive footage)
event2002 star_border 10
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Tells the story of the photographers who cemented the image of swinging London and who, through their pictures, irreversibly altered the face of fashion and pop.
Dear Antonioni
Act like Self
event1995
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A documentary portrait of Michangelo Antonioni based on Roland Barthes' essay.
Wandering Heart
Act like Self
event2009 star_border 5
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Wandering Heart intimately follows Caetano from São Paulo to New York and Japan, during the release of his first album recorded solely in English. It takes considerably more than a week-long series of shows at Carnegie Hall, accolades in the New York Times, or the admiration of friends like Pedro Almodóvar, David Byrne and Michelangelo Antonioni to make Caetano feel comfortable outside of Brazil.
Antonioni su Antonioni
Act like Himself
event2008
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A documentary on the life, work, and character of Michelangelo Antonioni.
Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit
Act like Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
event2018 star_border 7
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An account of the life of actress Jeanne Moreau (1928-2017), a true icon of the New Wave and one of the most idolized French movie stars.
The Oscars
Act like Self (1 ep.)
event1953 star_border 7
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An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.
Blow-Up
Director (1 ep.)
event1966 star_border 7.3
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A successful mod photographer in London whose world is bounded by fashion, pop music, marijuana, and easy sex, feels his life is boring and despairing. But in the course of a single day he unknowingly captures a death on film.
Zabriskie Point
Director (1 ep.)
event1970 star_border 7.1
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Anthropology student Daria, who's helping a property developer build a village in the Los Angeles desert, and dropout Mark, who's wanted by the authorities for allegedly killing a policeman during a student riot, accidentally encounter each other in Death Valley and soon begin an unrestrained romance.
L'Eclisse
Director (1 ep.)
event1962 star_border 7.7
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This romantic drama by Michelangelo Antonioni follows the love life of Vittoria, a beautiful literary translator living in Rome. After splitting from her writer boyfriend, Riccardo, Vittoria meets Piero, a lively stockbroker, on the hectic floor of the Roman stock exchange. Though Vittoria and Piero begin a relationship, it is not one without difficulties, and their commitment to one another is tested during an eclipse.
L'Avventura
Director (1 ep.)
event1960 star_border 7.5
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Claudia and Anna join Anna's lover, Sandro, on a boat trip to a remote volcanic island. When Anna goes missing, a search is launched. In the meantime, Sandro and Claudia become involved in a romance despite Anna's disappearance, though the relationship suffers from guilt and tension.
Love in the City
Director (1 ep.)
event1953 star_border 6.5
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Six vignettes explore love and desire in Rome, from prostitution and heartache to unwed motherhood and the male gaze.
Beyond the Clouds
Director (1 ep.)
event1995 star_border 6.3
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Four tales, each centered on a woman, journey inward to explore the enigmatic reality of their lives, connecting through a single narrative thread.
Chung Kuo: China
Director (1 ep.)
event1972 star_border 7.3
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A sweeping documentary explores China through its people, showcasing life in Beijing's old city and a bustling cotton factory, a collective farm in Henan, the historic city of Suzhou, and the industrial port of Shanghai, culminating in a vibrant acrobatic performance.
Red Desert
Director (1 ep.)
event1964 star_border 7.4
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In an industrializing Italian town, a married woman, rendered mentally unstable after a traffic accident, drifts into an affair with a friend of her husband.
The Passenger
Director (1 ep.)
event1975 star_border 7.3
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David Locke is a world-weary American journalist who has been sent to cover a conflict in northern Africa, but he makes little progress with the story. When he discovers the body of a stranger who looks similar to him, Locke assumes the dead man's identity. However, he soon finds out that the man was an arms dealer, leading Locke into dangerous situations. Aided by a beautiful woman, Locke attempts to avoid both the police and criminals out to get him.
La Notte
Director (1 ep.)
event1961 star_border 8
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A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship in Milan.
Il Grido
Director (1 ep.)
event1957 star_border 7.5
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A sugar-refinery worker flees his Northern Italy town after a woman refuses his marriage proposal.
The White Sheik
Story (1 ep.)
event1952 star_border 7.2
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In Italy, small-town newlyweds Wanda and Ivan Cavalli embark on their honeymoon in the big city of Rome. Ivan dutifully wants to keep appointments with family and church, but Wanda is only interested in meeting her favorite photo-strip star known as "The White Sheik". While Wanda impetuously sneaks away to locate the object of her affections, disconsolate Ivan tries his hardest to keep up appearances with the couple's relatives.
Palermo Shooting
In Memory Of (1 ep.)
event2008 star_border 6.1
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After the wild lifestyle of a famous young German photographer almost gets him killed, he goes to Palermo, Sicily to take a break. Can the beautiful city and a beautiful local woman calm him down?
Le Amiche
Director (1 ep.)
event1955 star_border 6.8
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Clelia, a self-made woman coming from humble means, travels back to Turin, her hometown, to scout locations for the successful Roman atelier she works for. At the hotel, she encounters some upper middle-class women and she finds herself drawn into their friendships.
Eros
Director (1 ep.)
event2004 star_border 5.7
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A three-part anthology about love and sexuality: a menage-a-trois between a couple and a young woman on the coast of Tuscany; an advertising executive under enormous pressure at work, who, during visits to his psychiatrist, is pulled to delve into the possible reasons why his stress seems to manifest itself in a recurring erotic dream; and a story of unrequited love about a beautiful, 1960s high-end call girl in an impossible affair with her young tailor.
Story of a Love Affair
Director (1 ep.)
event1950 star_border 6.8
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A wealthy, possessive husband's investigation reignites his young wife's past love, leading them to plot against him. As obstacles fall away, their passion faces a new test.
Identification of a Woman
Director (1 ep.)
event1982 star_border 5.9
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Movie director Niccolò has just been left by his wife. Subsequently he embarks on an obsessive relationship with a young woman who eventually leaves him and disappears while searching for her, he meets a variety of other willing girls. This gives him the idea of making a movie about women's relationships. He starts to search for a woman who can play the leading part in the movie.
The Vanquished
Director (1 ep.)
event1953 star_border 6.4
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Three tales of privileged youth entangled in murder: French students kill for money, an Italian student smuggles cigarettes, and an English poet exploits a grim discovery.
The Lady Without Camelias
Director (1 ep.)
event1953 star_border 6.6
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A Milanese shop assistant becomes an overnight film sensation when fate lands her the leading role in a prominent producer's romantic drama.
The Three Faces
Director (1 ep.)
event1965 star_border 5.6
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Italian comedy film made of three segments directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, Mauro Bolognini and Franco Indovina. First segment: Il Provino; second segment: Gli amanti celebri; third segment: Latin Lover.
12 Directors for 12 Cities
Director (1 ep.)
event1989 star_border 5
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Promotional omnibus film, made for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, featuring portraits of 12 Italian cities.
Lies of Love
Director (1 ep.)
event1949 star_border 5.8
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Early Antonioni documentary short on the making of Fumetti (Italian photo comics) and their role in Italian society.
Tragic Hunt
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1947 star_border 6.7
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Immediately after the war, bandits attack a truck that is transporting newlyweds Michele and Giovanna and the accountant of an agricultural cooperative charged with bringing four million lire into office.
The Mystery of Oberwald
Director (1 ep.)
event1981 star_border 5.8
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A man, mirroring the assassinated King, infiltrates a castle to kill the Queen but hesitates, leading to a deadly dare and revelation of shared history.
People of the Po Valley
Director (1 ep.)
event1947 star_border 6.5
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A documentary short detailing the life of Italians living on the Po River in the 1940s.
Tokyo Olympiad
Thanks (1 ep.)
event1965 star_border 7.8
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This impressionistic portrait of the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics pays as much attention to the crowds and workers as it does to the actual competitive events. Highlights include an epic pole-vaulting match between West Germany and America, and the final marathon race through Tokyo's streets. Two athletes are highlighted: Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila, who receives his second gold medal, and runner Ahamed Isa from Chad, representing a country younger than he is.
N.U.
Director (1 ep.)
event1948 star_border 6.4
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This 1948 film by Antonioni documents the lives of street cleaners in Rome. N.U. is short for Nettezza urbana, the Italian municipal cleaning service.
Il provino
Director (1 ep.)
event1965
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Pseudo-documentary about the effort to become a movie star by Soraya, the Queen of Iran. It is the first segment of "I tre volti", a collaborative film by Michelangelo Antonioni, Mauro Bolognini, and Franco Indovina.
The Funicular of Mount Faloria
Director (1 ep.)
event1950 star_border 6.5
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Vertigine (Vertigo) is the original title of a fragment of around 4', signed by Michelangelo Antonioni, which is a part of the eight-minutes documentary La funivia del Faloria. The title was eventually modified in La funivia del Faloria because considered more effective to obtain the governmental prize (at the time the minimum length allowed was 8 minutes). Vertigine was shot in 1949 with the cinematographer Bellisario, who was director of photography in several documentaries in those years, but was edited only in 1950, after Antonioni had made his first feature film, Cronaca di un amore.
Superstition
Director (1 ep.)
event1948 star_border 6.3
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Short documentary about superstition in southern Italy.
The Villa of Monsters
Director (1 ep.)
event1950 star_border 5.7
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Short Documentary about a garden with strange sculptures near Rome.
Sweet Ruin
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event2008
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An unproduced screenplay by Michelangelo Antonioni provides the basis for this existential tale of a gun-obsessed journalist, starring Gaby Hoffmann in roles originally intended for Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider.
Technically Sweet
Screenplay (1 ep.)
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A journalist suffers an existential crisis on a sudden holiday.
Seven Reeds, One Dress
Director (1 ep.)
event1948 star_border 6.4
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A short documentary on the production of rayon, shot in Torviscosa (Italy). It portrays the production of this new synthetic fabric in the small town of Torviscosa, entirely built following strict fascist canons.
The Dangerous Thread of Things
Director (1 ep.)
event2004 star_border 4.8
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Christopher and Cloe are probably coming to the end of their relationship. They still seem to love each other but don't seem to be able to be with each other in always arguing. Their relationship is affected by each individually encountering Linda, the girl who lives in the tower across the way from their house.
A Pilot Returns
Screenplay (1 ep.)
event1942 star_border 5
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A young Italian pilot is interned in a British prison camp after his plane is shot down during the war against Greece. He falls in love with a doctor's daughter and manages to escape during a bombardment. He reaches home, wounded, just as news arrives of the Greek surrender.
Return to Lisca Bianca Island
Director (1 ep.)
event1983 star_border 5.3
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Twenty-three years after L'Avventura (1960), Michelangelo Antonioni returns to Lisca Bianca Island. The rarefied atmosphere of Anna's (Lea Massari's) disappearance is recalled by some audio excerpts from the original movie.
Noto, Almond Trees, Volcano, Stromboli, Carnival
Director (1 ep.)
event1993 star_border 6
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Produced for the Italian pavilion at Seville Expo, Antonioni takes a look at specific aspects of Sicily, including almond blossom, aerial investigations of volcanoes and a look at Aciraele's colorful carnival.
Kumbha Mela
Director (1 ep.)
event1992 star_border 5
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Documentary about India's most important Hindu festival, 1977's Kumbha Mela, during which millions of believers gather to pray where the Ganges, Jamuna and Saraswati rivers meet.
Sign of the Gladiator
Second Unit Director (1 ep.)
event1959 star_border 4.7
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Zenobia, Queen of Palmira, revolts against Rome and defeats the Roman troops, but she makes a big mistake when she falls in love with enemy officer Marco Valerio.
Sicily
Director (1 ep.)
event1997
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Impressionistic short by Antonioni
Fotoromanza
Director (1 ep.)
event1984
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A music video of the song Fotoromanza by Gianna Nannini (b.1954), an extremely popular singer-songwriter during the mid-1980s. The movie won a number of awards and traveled all over the world.
Chung Kuo-Cina
Director (3 ep.)
event1972 star_border 6.5
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A documentary on China, concentrating mainly on the faces of the people, filmed in the areas they were allowed to visit. The 220-minute version consists of three parts. The first part, taken around Beijing, includes a cotton factory, older sections of the city, and a clinic where a Caesarean operation is performed using acupuncture. The middle part visits the Red Flag canal and a collective farm in Henan, as well as the old city of Suzhou. The final part shows the port and industries of Shanghai and ends with a stage presentation by Chinese acrobats.
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