Leftwing engagé film director Citto
Maselli has died at the age of 92, Communist Refoundation leader
Maurizio Acerbi announced Tuesday.
"With great pain I must communicate the news of the death, which
happened a short while ago, of comrade Citto Maselli," he said.
"Italian cinema and culture have lost a maestro and a great
director, and the Left (has lost) a militant intellectual and an
example of rigour and coherence".
Born in Rome on December 9 1930, Maselli graduated at the
National Film School in 1949 and began his career as assistant
director for Luigi Chiarini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Luchino
Visconti.
Thanks to Visconti, Maselli managed to direct his first feature
film, Abandoned, which competed at the 16th Venice Film Festival
in 1955.
In the 1980s, Maselli dedicated himself to more intimate films,
generally focused on female portraits, such as A Tale of Love,
with which Maselli won the Grand Jury Prize at the 43rd Venice
Film Festival, where Valeria Golino was awarded with her first
Volpi Cup for Best Actress.
His 1990 film Il segreto (The Secret) was entered into the 40th
Berlin International Film Festival.
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