Director Lina Wertmuller, one of the
greats of Italian cinema, died in Rome overnight at the age of
93, sources said Thursday.
Wertmuller was the first woman director to be nominated for an
academy award for Seven Beauties in 1975.
Her most important movies also include The Seduction of Mimi,
Love and Anarchy and Swept Away.
She received an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2019.
President Sergio Mattarella said in a statement that Wertmuller
was "a director and intellectual of great refinement, who gave
life to unforgettable films and characters throughout her
prestigious cinema career".
Culture Minister Dario Franceschini was among the first to pay
tribute.
"Italy is mourning the loss of Lina Wertmüller, a director who,
with her class and her unmistakable style, left an indelible
mark on our cinematography and that of the world," Franceschini
said.
"She had a long, intense career, giving us works that each of of
us will be connected to forever".
Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said Wertmuller would lie in state
at the city hall so people can pay their respects to her.
Gualtieri described her as a "great director who made films that
are dense with irony and intelligence".
Wertmuller was born in 2014 to a Roman mother and a father from
southern Italy.
Her family had distant roots in the Swiss nobility.
Before becoming a film-maker in her own right, Wertmuller worked
with as Fellini's assistant director on 8½.
In an interview with ANSA for the publication in 2012 of her
autobiography, 'Tutto a Posto e Niente in Ordine (Everything in
Place and Nothing in Order), she described herself as
"passionate, swayed by many charms and big crushes and a bit of
a tart in the sense that I did what I wanted to do.
"I was spoilt by everyone, producers included," she continued.
"I have had a fortunate life, a job in show-business, which was
my passion from the start, film-making, friendship with
(Federico) Fellini, the love of (late husband) Enrico (Job), a
wonderful daughter.
"In all of this I have remained a free soul".
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