Paolo Taviani Dies: Legendary Italian Director Who Helmed Numerous Films With Brother Vittorio Was 92

Max Goldbart

1 March 2024 at 12:12 pm·2-min read

Paolo Taviani, the iconic Italian director who helmed numerous films with his brother Vittorio, has died. He was 92.

Taviani died in a clinic in Rome after suffering from a short illness, according to media reports. His wife and two children were at his bedside, according to Anasa news agency.

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Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri made the announcement on X.

“With Paolo Taviani, a great master of Italian cinema leaves us,” Gualtieri wrote in Italian. “Together with his brother Vittorio, he made unforgettable, profound, committed films, which have managed to enter the collective imagination and the history of cinema. An affectionate hug to the family.”

Born in 1931 in Tuscany, Taviani formed a formidable directing duo with Vittorio, who died in 2018.

The pair made films together for more than 50 years. Their most prominent was Cannes Palme d’Or winner Padre Padrone, an adaptation of Gavino Ledda’s autobiographical novel about a young shepherd who escapes the despotic control of his father.

Five years after Padre, the pair won the jury prize at the same fest for La notte di San Lorenzo (The Night of the Shooting Stars), which was entered for the Oscars.

Other credits included Good Morning, Babylon, The Sun Also Shines at Night and Caesars Must Die. The latter won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2012.

Taviani continued making films right up until his death, helming Leonora Addio as recently as 2022 — his first without his brother — which also made the Berlin competition.

Both Tavianis also wrote almost as many films as they directed.

Tributes have been flooding in this afternoon.

Former Cannes president Gilles Jacob told AFP news that Paolo Taviani was “one half of an enchanting duo.”

The Venice Biennale X account called him “master of Italian cinema and an emblematic figure of civil commitment cinema.”

Taviani is survived by wife Lina Nerli Taviani; and children Ermanno and Valentina.

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